Protector's pride
by narutokyuubi rampage
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely the picture is from internet but this inspired the fic
1. Chapter 1

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_PROLOGUE: DEATH OF A FRIEND_

Naruto watched in horror as the large projectile headed towards him with great speed, he knew he should move but learning the two techniques as well as copying the cool jutsus had taken a lot out of him.

'So this is where the story of Naruto Uzumaki ends, the great nine tailed fox dies here in this forest powerless.'

Naruto was ready to die knowing he wouldn't be missed if any the village will celebrate his death. But he was wrong his journey wasn't to be finished the death god wanted a different soul one very precious to the blond shinobi wannabe.

Naruto was even more shocked when the shuriken didn't sever his head from the body rather his body was engulfed in a warm hug. "Iruka Sensei…why?" the words escaped his mouth barely more than a whisper.

"Well I could let my...cough...cough...little brother die can I?" Iruka tried to reply merrily even as blood dripped form his mouth on to Naruto. His eyes were already darkening he heard the boy call him and hug him tighter but it seemed so far away.

Naruto felt something warm dropping on his hair the hands around his body loosen, the body of his beloved sensei; the only person to call him family stiffened in his arms. He could hear the cackle of the bastard just ahead, he was proud… he was proud to rip away Iruka from Naruto.

"**KILL" **a deep voice echoed from deep within Naruto's soul, a voice filled with hate and malice. "KILL" "RIP THIS BASTARD TO PIECES" the words swirled around Naruto's soul like a mantra.

Mizuki stiffened he could feel the blood lust again. For twelve years he had nightmares about the day when he lost his elder brother, this was the same blood lust. This was HIS blood lust.

"Kyuubi" he gasped. His hands grasping the hilts of two kunais he lunged at the kneeling blond but his attacked only touched wind. The monster dodged his attack as if he was nothing.

"You killed Iruka sensei… I will KILL YOU" Naruto roared from the tree branch just above Mizuki's head who jumped back and entered a stance his two kunais held in a cross formation guarding his chest.

"Bring it on demon…I will send you where I sent that demon loving fool…in hell." Mizuki yelled his voice full of bravado he didn't feel himself. The cold blue eyes of his opponent showed no emotions as the hands moved to form a cross seal.

The hatred full voice had died down in Naruto's head filling him with an eerily calm mind. His exhaustion was gone as if it was never there. His hand slipped into the cross like hand seal he had mastered to impress his teacher. Blue chakra swirled around his body as he called out, "tajju kage bunshin jutsu."

Mizuki felt a cold chill run through his spine as his surroundings were filled with hundreds of the orange clad blonde. And in unison they attacked him.

Third hokage of hidden leaf Sarutobi Hiruzen raced across the forest his squad of anbu on his tail. As they closed on the area they could hear only weeping of a broken boy. Sarutobi let out a sigh; he could guess what his pseudo grandson might be feeling.

As he entered the clearing he saw a broken mutilated pincushion like body of former leaf chunin Mizuki and a blood stained blond head crying over the dead body of his teacher. A pang of sorrow passed through his own heart as leader of the ninja village he had seen his fair share of deaths but finding your precious person only to lose him would render deep marks over a boy's heart. He just wished Naruto would recover from this ordeal.

Naruto felt a familiar hand lie on his shoulder. "It was my fault old man…it was my fault Iruka sensei died, Mizuki was right I am a monster who must be put down." Naruto spoke tears cascading down his chins as the rain started. Hiruzen did the only thing he could thought of he wrapped Naruto in a warm hug as he body flickered away from the place, knowing his anbu will do the rest.


	2. Chapter 2

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental._

_Listen to so far away by avenged while reading this chapter it will set the mood perfectly._

Chapter one: the birth of a shinobi

The night was a time when Naruto Uzumaki always let his mask drop. For most of the days it was in his apartment where no one else would look for him.  
But today he had no intention to go home. Three days had passed but he still couldn't get over it.

Every where he looked it reminded him of Iruka sensei, his forehead was covered by the forehead protector bearing leaf emblem. Hokage had deemed him eligible for the genin rank for his performance in real combat situation. In any other day he would yelled in joy but this was no other day. The guilt of losing a person who called him 'little brother' who saw him Naruto Uzumaki the clown of Konoha not the nine tailed monster weighed over his soul.

He stood in front of a large stone kunai. Almost half of the large monument was filled with names. These names were to remind the future who the real heroes were. Naruto couldn't bring himself to the funeral for his beloved sensei. Hokage told him only five people were there including him all of them who worked with him.

He had gone to see his 'big brother's' grave and was glad to see he was resting just beside his parent's graves. 'At least you get to be with your family now Iruka sensei.' Naruto thought solemnly.

He knelt down and placed the bouquet of white carnations he had bought from a shop under his henge. He slowly touched the headstone tracing the lines written about the fallen warrior.

"A warrior, a friend and a teacher may the will of fire burn brightly to show you your heaven."  
Naruto read the inscription under his breath. And for the first time in his life Naruto Uzumaki jailor of the mighty nine tailed fox prayed to god not for his own sake but for his deceased friend.

And thus with a melancholy mood he stood in front of a stone obelisk that would have a different visitor for all day.

"I cannot let it happen anymore, I will not let happen anymore. I will save all of them who I hold close with my own life. I will do anything cross any limit to protect my friends, I promise this to you Iruka nee san." Tears buried deep within for years once again started falling as he heard footsteps behind him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was cursing his predecessor and strangely successor to hell and back for leaving him in this mess. He failed to protect Minato's legacy and the person who did it in his stead lied in eternal peace. But his face soon broke into a small smile as he heard the end part of Naruto's promise.

With a fond shake of his head the wizened leader of the hidden leaf thought of the same unyielding determination of another blond haired blue eyed person. He walked to stand beside the teen who was now looking him in the eye.

"You know Naruto Kun the goal you just set is even harder than your dream. It will be a long uphill battle" Hiruzen chuckled as he laid his hand on the head of his pseudo grandson. Naruto looked at him tears now stopped eyes filled with more determination than ever.

"You don't understand gramps, everywhere I see it reminds me of Iruka nee, I don't care what you say but it was my fault. I was too weak but I won't be weak." Naruto yelled this time his flashing anger bubbling up from within him. But he stopped when he saw the proud smile that adorned hokage's face.

"I see maybe I can help you there, but are you completely serious about your goal." Naruto nodded at the question. And another smile lit up on hokage's face taking some of the lines with it to never return.

He let out a laugh, the kind of one that no one has seen him laughing for over a decade. After a while he asked Naruto again, "and how do you propose to do so." Full well prepared for the guilty look that passed onto the teen's face the old leader titled 'professor' saw a smaller scroll with six jutsus held before him.

His experienced eye recognized them to be from the forbidden scroll. "Ah these ones" He spoke to himself "it has been many years since any of these were used." Then focusing again on the squirming blonde standing before him Sarutobi could help but snicker.

"While I admit these are strong and good techniques to have, all of them are far beyond your level." He told the boy kindly, "however I could give you the help you require." Naruto's face once again lit up in joy but he kept his mouth shut as he could see that Hiruzen wasn't finished yet.

"Now come with me and I will see what I can give to you." The hokage tightened his hold and with a puff of smoke both of them vanished from there.

HOKAGE TOWER

In side hokage's office the two travelers had different reactions while Sarutobi simply went sit at his chair Naruto sunk in the first chair he got. Smiling at the scene before him the old leader of leaf felt himself lighter than he felt in days. The simple fact that his pseudo grandson was going to overcome the grief gave him a strange feel of contentment.

"So Naruto Kun what kind of scroll would you like?" the question broke Naruto out of the funk body flicker caused. Was it a scene from a week ago the blonde would have asked for a ninjutsu scroll but a lot has changed in one week. Naruto had matured more in one night than last three years together; he now was trying figure out his mistakes rather than simply pretend they don't exist.

"Iruka sensei always told me that I have more body strength than average but my style is horrendous so I guess I should first work on that area. What do you think old man?" Naruto answered his eyes scrunched in concentration but his customary smile absent. 'He has almost stopped smiling I guess some things can never be healed' the thoughts ran through the old kage's mind as he channeled chakra to a specific portion of the table with a puff a scroll appeared there.

"Here Naruto Kun this scroll has detailed information about a very special taijutsu style. Take it as your graduation present." Naruto picked up the scroll, it looked old very old and was bit damaged at places. He was pondering on what to do next when Sarutobi spoke again. "You know Naruto kun like you I have also seen my sensei die. Do you know how I became hokage?"

Just as Hiruzen expected the boy's curiosity picked up at once. Not letting his face betray any of the pain he still felt about the incident Sarutobi began recounting the incident that still managed to fill his nights with nightmares.

"_Several blasts could be hard from afar as Tobirama sensei led us across the forest; we were seven in number counting sensei. My team and I were originally from shodaime's squad but after sensei passed away Tobirama sensei took us in. we had gone to aid a border encampment from what we heard was kumo's border forces but the information was faulty we had ran across the entire elite kin gin squad. Two chunins and four genins were no match for the elite of kumo. Sensei tried to lead us back to Konoha all the while trying to rescue as many of the wounded as he could that was fiercest fight I had ever seen sensei get into."_

_**Flashback**_

"**Water style: water vortex jutsu" cried Tobirama Senju the second hokage of leaf village. The condensed water stream hit two of kumo's warriors while rest managed to dodge it. The two that got hit died instantly their entire rib cage was crushed from the water pressure. Still this was bad even with the loss of seven the kin gin forces still had twenty shinobi strong while he was getting tired. Tobirama jumped from the tree branch he was in as twelve lightning tendril hit the tree before wrapping it in a lightning net. He started to form hand seals in a fast pace as a cleaving sword strike forced him to dodge but still continuing the hand seals. As he finished he slammed his hand on the ground, "water style: hidden water death trap."**

**For a moment nothing visual happened and three of the attacking forces got cocky they jumped on the ground lunging at the visibly tired opponent their large cleaver like blade wrapped in blue thunder. But as soon as they came within ten feet of Tobirama water from the air condensed around him wrapping them in a cocoon of water and the greatest water user in history watched in grim satisfaction as the attackers choked to death right before his eyes. Their hands clawing their throat trying desperately to breathe as slowly but surely they fell to their deaths.**

"**Sensei we are ready to move." The yell from his female student Koharu allowed him to create a shadow clone and quickly move away the trap would ensure that the rest of ten shinobis don't follow them but the trap would be able help when Kinkaku and Ginkaku enter the fray.**

**They ran for five more hours until they had to drop down from the trees as a powerful lightning blast turned the tree they were about land into cinders. Tobirama cursed inwardly as he understood who caused the attack the fiercest tag team of Kumogakure had joined the hunt. **

**Turning towards his students he announced, "We need a decoy if we are to make it out of this forest alive." Silence ruled the forest as every one of them thinking deeply about the situation when Hiruzen spoke out, "I will do it, I am the strongest of the six and Danzo can take care of them for me."**

**Tobirama Senju brother to Hashriama Senju never been prouder in his life, he had long since decided who the decoy would be but he wanted to see who would be the newest hokage of leaf. "I will be the decoy" he spoke in a clear voice "I entrust my village to you six Saru I name you the Sandaime Hokage of Leaf. Remember when tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village and once again the tree leaves shall bud new."**

_**Flashback end**_

As Hiruzen finished recounting his tale the atmosphere had changed in the room the fire he saw earlier in Naruto's eyes returned greater than ever, while he himself felt a tear slid down his sunken cheeks.

"I will leave now gramps, I will see you later." Naruto said before he left the room. He had a lot to think about.

Author's Note: here is the first chapter of Protector's pride. The chapter may be a bit short I personally am too lazy to write huge chapters like with 5k+ but the word count will increase in time. Please read and review if there is some grammatical error please be considerate and r&r.


	3. Chapter 3

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental._

_Blowing in the wind_

Once more the calm of night had wrapped the peaceful village of leaf, as the world slept the stars kept witness of the endless vigil of two troubled soul. One marked by darkness yet fighting for light and another born with unending light yet slowly consumed by darkness. Two ends of opposite spectrums yet destined to collide.

Inside his family's Training ground Sasuke Uchiha let out a grunt of frustration, his body glistening with the sweat, his long black locks covering his obsidian black eyes. He had given his everything. He had no friends he had only acquaintances, he had no hobby he only had a mission, he had no dreams he only had an ambition. It was his goal in life it was the light that drove me the single wound that would never grant him peace. He had given his every free moment in trying to attain the level his opponent had set him and yet he failed time and again.

'No' his mind rebelled 'I cannot fail, I will kill him, I will bring peace to my parent's souls.' And once again he stood up his hands slowly but surely forming the required hand signs. His chakra started gathering in his mouth. 'Just a bit more come on' his mind kept telling him. "Fire style: phoenix flower jutsu" three fire balls in the shape and size of baseball issued from his mouth and he sank into his knees.

'Why?' he yelled in the silent sky "even after trying so hard I can never reach him. What more do I have to give?" Two days later he will be assigned a jounin sensei and grant him the chance to grow beyond his limit. He hated it absolutely being obligated to someone didn't sit well with him but he would gladly do it if it meant gaining strength.

PAGE BREAK

There was another boy still practicing this late into the night his blond hair shone in the starlight, he had no clothes on despite being only a preteen his body lacked the baby fat it was lithe and strong. Standing up from the meditative pose he was sitting in he made cross shaped hand seal. With the cry of "shadow clone jutsu" quickly there were seven more doppelgangers of him. The six of them lined up against the whisker cheeked boy and as if following a silent command of some sort all of them dropped in to his new taijutsu stance.

Hands open and in a cross guard formation while the knees were slightly bent. Naruto closed his eyes his emotions forcibly pushed aside as the scroll told him to. His mind brought the words of the scroll to the fore front. "To master this style one needs to be able to let himself flow. Be one with it, don't force your body but gently guide it to the destination."

The clones charged as one two of them coming in the front while the rest stayed back. Naruto simply bent his body in an arch his hands shot downwards to balance his body as his left leg lashed out in a precise and powerful kick. One of clones stepped aside while the other got hit in the chest. Naruto simply pulled his legs back and performed a roll to gain some distance or so he tried. The clones had expected the move and prepared for it.

'Shit' he cursed in his mind as seven shurikens missed him barely. He tried to move in to offence but soon the three clones forced him into back foot again. If this was any other time Naruto wouldn't have bothered dodging he would have simply charged ahead but he figured out this totally seemed to be cheating when his clones would disappear with a hit.

He was caught off guard as a chakra laced palm thrust hit him in the stomach; a grunt of pain escaped him as a return blow destroyed the offending clone. Naruto pressed on dodging or diverting the attacks of his clones while he slowly started to destroy them one by one. Fifteen minutes later when he finished them all his body had numerous bruises and his face had a frown.

'My diversion fist attack is nowhere near ready; I only have two days till team assignments. I don't know what I am doing wrong.' He once again slipped into that stance and slowly but swiftly started practicing the moves.

Tsunami fist style was the main taijutsu style of once famous Uzumaki clan. A master of this style could easily fight a master of gentle fist toe to toe. But Naruto didn't know this all he knew or cared about was this style would make him strong enough to protect all those he holds close to his heart, old man hokage, Konohamaru and the Ichiraku family. And that was all the motivation he needed.

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HOKAGE'S OFFICE

Sarutobi Hiruzen mentally cursed the death god for umpteenth time as he pondered over the latest mess he had in his hand. With the death of both Iruka and Mizuki the current graduating class had no one who could pair them up. Now he could set them as he pleased but he knew very well that these reports were not always correct. So he decided to something that had never been done before and landed himself into the silly quarrelling between his best soldiers.

The two jounin senseis who were causing this headache were Kurenai Yuhi the genjutsu specialist of the village and Hatake Kakashi. The silly thing was they were fighting like children over a certain student.

"Sasuke is a genius of his own accord and you already have him in his team Kakashi why do you need Uzumaki as well." Countered Kurenai she was determined to get the boy who harbored the kyuubi. Kakashi while famous for laid back attitude was not ready to give an inch this time, as he instantly countered, "What shall you teach him? His massive chakra load would render him incapable of using genjutsu. He is going through a tough phase and I can help him best there. I can mold him to be a shinobi worth pride."

Kurenai scoffed at the retort and decided to play it underhanded, "just like you dealt with your phase I am sure." But her comment got the reverse reaction she had hoped for the lone visible eye that was till now scanning an orange book turned in to cold ice, "Uzumaki Naruto is child born from fire, whatever I did with my life doesn't concern here as he already proved himself stronger than me."

Hiruzen had enough their squabble was creating a migraine faster than you can say 'shit'. "Will you two shut up" he roared his patience worn thin. "Kakashi I am assigning Naruto to you but I don't need to tell you what he means to leaf do I?"

"I won't let you down hokage Sama" Kakashi replied with a bow no one but the hokage was aware what teaching Naruto truly meant to him.

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KONOHA ACADEMY

Naruto stood outside the gate that leads to the ninja academy. Memories flooded his mind he wanted to run away from the building it reminded him too much of his mistakes. His feet almost started dragging him to the opposite side but he forcefully reminded him this is not what Iruka would have wanted for him.

A small smile flickered in his face as he remembered the countless times he was bought here by the scarred chunin. Once again fully determined he entered the class but his mood soured at once when one of the graduates decided to remind him how he had passed. Forcing him not to lash out at the fool he brushed past him and sat at the far back of the class but during this simple turn of events something strange occurred.

Sasuke Uchiha the prodigy of Uchiha clan and self claimed avenger sat in his seat drowning in his own sea of red until the loud mouth idiot of Keita broke him out of his darkness. As he glanced at the side for a moment his black eyes met a pool of cerulean blue. It was there the same kind of pain he experiences every day a deep loneliness a pit of darkness.

Naruto sat in the farthest corner of the room his emotions threatening to overwhelm him once more; he discarded his orange jacket hoping that slight cold air may bring the comfort he sought. But it didn't he was drowning in his own sorrow once more. 'No I won't break. I will fulfill my promise to old man' he forced himself back to the reality.

Barely two minutes later Hokage entered their class accompanied by nine more shinobi in vests symbolizing that they are the ones who would lead the genins. Naruto kept his attention on Sandaime as he read the genin squads one by one. Finally when he began the seventh squad Naruto had his turn. He was assigned with Sasuke and Ino.

Naruto felt like screaming this was perhaps the worst team he could have not only he had Sasuke in his team also his greatest fan girl. For a moment he thought of loudly complaining but sucked it up. He was man enough to face the life even when it dealt him a shitty hand.

The flicker of emotions didn't miss the eye of the cyclopean jounin assigned to lead team seven. 'Interesting suppressing emotions like a professional. You really have a good poker face Naruto kun'. Asuma had all boys squad giving Kurenai the Hyuuga heiress, Inuzuka heir and one with the most potential for genjutsu. All things considered Kakashi thought this generation can easily beat the past generations.

He led an expression less Naruto a brooding Sasuke and a gloating Ino. After reaching his own special interviewing place Kakashi let out a manic grin flash underneath his mask. 'Now it's time to scare the hell out of the kids.' he turned around to face them leaning against the railings of the roof. By studying the expressions of their faces Kakashi could tell all three of them were curious and bit guarded two more so than the third one, good he liked it that way.

Naruto had his jacket on but the zippers off he was curious of what his new sensei was about. So far he seemed mysterious but had an aura much like both Iruka and Hokage; to him it meant he was trustworthy. He silently followed the man's command and raced to the roof he could hear Sasuke's feet behind him.

Currently he sat in the middle of the stone slab while the blonde girl and Uchiha sat in the sides. All the three pairs of eyes fixed on the figure in front of them reading an orange book. "Ok now that we all are here shall we begin? How about you introduce your selves dreams, hobbies likes dislikes that kind of stuff." Kakashi's voice sent shivers down the spines of all three teens.

For a moment silence existed until Ino raised her hand, "err! Sensei, can you go first" Kakashi chuckled he was expecting the response, he stated in a monotonic voice, "my name is Hatake Kakashi. I am a jounin from this village I have many hobbies, goals didn't really think about them my likes and dislikes don't really concern you" He forcefully stopped himself from breaking out laughing as he saw the expression disbelief flicker among his cute students.

Applying his no nonsense tone Kakashi barked out, "alright whisker cheeks you first." Naruto didn't show any outward emotion at being reminded of his tenant but the quenching of jaw muscles told Kakashi that he hated the beast. 'Good start kid, you keep all of us safe' he thought as he saw the golden haired boy begin his introduction.

Naruto felt his temper flare for being reminded of his burden but he recognized the teasing tone hidden in it and relaxed as he started introducing himself. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, the thing I like is people who acknowledge me and ramen, the thing I hate is traitors and liars. My current hobby is training and I want to be strong enough to protect all those who I love." Kakashi simply directed his lone eye to Naruto's left on the lone girl of the four, Ino seemed nervous before she began speaking, " my name is Ino Yamanka, my hobby is gardening, the one I like is…(her cheeks turned pink as she shot a glance at the raven haired boy) I dislike forehead girl and lazy asses. I dream of one day surpassing my dad."

Kakashi gave a non committal shrug before the addressing the last person left from their squad. Sasuke didn't bother looking up his hands folded in front of his face. "My name is Sasuke; Uchiha Sasuke. I have no likes and many dislikes. I don't have any dreams only a goal that I will make reality. I want to kill a certain person."

As Sasuke finished his introduction three different thoughts raged through the others while Kakashi was sad but well aware that this was expected Ino was stunned at how cool her crush was but Naruto had the most notable emotion of them all. 'So same yet so different is it how I would have felt if Mizuki had escaped' the honest reply was yes and Naruto felt a shiver of hope a hope for a place to belong a kind of kinship.

A sound of chuckling tore him out of him musing as he saw his teacher guffawing off. Kakashi finally managed to get his chuckling under control as he looked at the insulted faces of his subordinates waving his hands to apologize he continued, "I am sorry I just couldn't control my laughter when I imagined what your expressions will be once I tell you that you are not genin yet."

"What do you mean by that?" the responding yell pleased Kakashi he had finally managed to break the boy out of the shell he himself created. Naruto was furious "why the hell are we not genins yet? We passed and all that"

Kakashi simply brushed his outburst aside, "mah mah did you really thought we would be sending you out in the field with such meaningless skills? That was simply to weed out the worth less ones. The jounin leaders get the final say in selecting the genins. Tomorrow you shall have the final test. Be at the training ground fifteen by five a.m. And one suggestion, don't eat or you shall puke." And with it he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto Sasuke and Ino sat there heads swimming with questions silently one by one they stood up. Naruto planning to revise his taijutsu moves once more, Sasuke planning to check on the clan library for some more jutsus and Ino was simply too overwhelmed to think.

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The dawn found Naruto standing on the training ground fifteen he had reached the place earliest. He was simply too nervous to sleep more he also had stopped by Iruka's grave to tell him about his life. It had become something of a habit for him. He saw the faint light of sun rays slowly breaking through the veil of darkness.

Naruto looked at the sun rise for a while before sitting down leaning against one of the poles. He didn't have to wait long as his two teammates entered the clearing simultaneously. "Hi Naruto, hello Sasuke Kun" Ino greeted her teammates all the while trying to keep her nervous down. Naruto replied enthusiastically but Sasuke simply replied with the grunt and thus began their waiting.

Nearly three hours later when Kakashi entered the clearing only find three sets of killer intents fixed at him. Ino's forehead had a large tick mark Sasuke looked simply murderous while Naruto's eyes seemed cold as ice yet Kakashi seemed unfazed. He simply waved them to gather around while feeding them a cock and bull excuse of his late being.

Once the squad had calmed down enough that they can follow commands Kakashi pulled out a pair of bells and an alarm clock, "you have to get these bells from me, whoever is without bell shall be sent back you have till noon. And one final advice, come at me with the intention to kill if you want to succeed." He waited to gauge the reactions of his students or would be students.

The steely glint in onyx black eyes of Sasuke told Kakashi at least one of them understands the meaning but he was disappointed at the horrified looks of the other two. "But won't you be in danger then?" Naruto croaked out.

'Good' thought Kakashi 'time to rile the beast.' Outwardly he chuckled and replied, "None of you possess any real ability to harm me specially you, Mr. Dead last." He smiled under his mask as he saw the murderous rage flicker through Naruto's eye but suppressed immediately. "And now BEGIN" Kakashi yelled.

All three of the genins dashed into the foliage but all separately. Kakashi started taking notes mentally, 'hmm, at least they understand the requirement to hide but they don't yet understand the theme of teamwork.' In the top branch of a big tree directly behind Kakashi Naruto hid himself the best he could the dried leaves of red and orange perfectly blending with the blonde shinobi's orange jacket. 'Ok all I know about this guy is he is a jounin of this village meaning he is one of the elites. But then he is bound to go easy on us. I guess I better test the level is willing to use against us and plan accordingly'

Sasuke hid amongst the smaller bushes and his hand clasped tightly on a kunai waiting for at least one of his team mates to show up and engage the guy so he may gain some intel. Ino also hid in the lower bushes but unlike the males she had no plans what so ever. Their waiting came to an end as a kunai was launched from the tree on Kakashi's blind side.

Kakashi waited mildly impressed at the judgment these children were showing then he heard the sound of a kunai rushing through air got him to alert but his amazement grew when he heard Naruto call out, "kage kunai jutsu". Kakashi quickly performed a seal less body replacement as the log got skewered by approximately fifteen kunai. He didn't even have the chance to survey the area as he had to duck as powerful kick went through the place where his head. Three Naruto's attacked him in taijutsu at once.

Kakashi dodged the numerous strikes three Naruto's sent at him with ease. His practiced eye could see the power and agility behind the attacks but also the holes the blonde's defense presented. Back flipping to gain some distance between him and the attackers Kakashi stood in the centre of what seemed to be a classic half circle formation. Kakashi was impressed at the use of shadow clones, to think that the boy learnt the technique less than a month ago this progress was amazing to say the least.

The three Naruto's quickly dropped in to the offensive stance and as one charged at the silver haired jounin. Kakashi didn't bother dropping into a stance as he announced, "Lesson one taijutsu". He barely moved his head to the left as a punch flew from there leaving an over extended Naruto who was taken out by a powerful punch in the chest.

The left one attacked with a low kick aiming to misbalance the opponent while the white one lashed out with an open palm strike at the abdomen. Kakashi deftly blocked the low kick with his right hand as he bent his body to dodge the attack another kick from him took out the left one leaving only one Naruto.

Naruto cursed loudly as his open palm strike was dodged but he had to concentrate as Kakashi decided to go offensive. Naruto barely dodged the fist that headed at his head but he groaned as a powerful kick from the opposite feet knocked him a few feet away. And with that they engaged in a taijutsu bout.

Naruto was doing all he could to block or dodge the attacks the jounin sent at his way. Naruto knew Kakashi was holding back a lot but that didn't help him much, he created a couple of hundred shadow clones as he retreated back. To his amazement Kakashi took out the clones in a matter of minutes by simply diverting his attacks to hit others. He would just block or in case dodge the most powerful attacks Naruto sent at him.

Once again taking refuge in a tree Naruto tried to regain his breath. His hunger was making it harder for him to fight with a cool head. He tried to remember the lessons both Iruka sensei and old man hokage taught him for he was sure none of them was beating that guy alone.

Daring a look at the jounin he saw Sasuke getting his ass handed over by Kakashi but what surprised him was when a furious Sasuke let out a big ball of fire from his mouth. Naruto was amazed at the strength the black haired boy was showing but he had to stifle his laughter when Kakashi dragged the boy underground up to his neck.

Naruto knew he had to find Ino know cause Kakashi was about to go after her and he had finally a plan that just might work. Quickly creating a clone he ordered in to shape shift into Ino as he himself dashed out to find her,

Kakashi was whistling a jaunty tune as he watched Ino trying maneuver her way to the still trapped Sasuke he waited until she was close to clearing before dropping in front of her. Ino shocked hastened back and tried drop into the academy stance. Kakashi's visible brow furrowed as a smile made its way under the mask. He had originally planned to taste the girl in genjutsu but instead he rushed in and one high kick later ino exploded into smoke.

At the same time Naruto, Sasuke and Ino sat back against a tree deep into the forest. "Look here dobe, I don't need you to hold me back I touched it last time I will get it surely this time." Naruto felt his frustration building, he gripped Sasuke by the collar ignoring the cry from the blonde girl he pulled his face close to him. "Look here ass hole the guy is playing with us the only way we win is if we co operate."

Sasuke didn't want to admit but at the moment he felt a bit of respect for the so called dead last. To him Naruto has shown skills comparable to his own. He nodded grudgingly. And together the planning began.

Kakashi was wondering whether he should search for the genins when he heard the yell of, "Kakashi sensei" from near the river. Naruto stood there his hands already in the cross seal as he yelled, "shadow clone jutsu." Ten clones formed beside him as Naruto dashed at him. Once again the two was engaged in a taijutsu bout with every single clone dispelled two more was taking the place. And slowly but surely Kakashi found himself begin pushed back with the chakra and muscle restraining seals placed on him he was tiring already.

Naruto knew he had to end it now; the plan was going perfectly till now. He sighed in relief as he saw the seven shurikens flying out of the forest. They wrapped themselves around Kakashi who seemed shocked his shock grew more when he heard the feminine shout of mind body replacement jutsu. Naruto let out a proud smile as he sank into his knees the chakra drain catching up to him.

Sasuke gave a brief smile as he saw Naruto's plan work successfully he left his hiding place and dashed at the bound and incapacitated Kakashi only to find it explode in smoke. "The fuck" he cursed aloud as the ringing of the alarm clock started just then.

Five minutes later team seven found themselves under the piercing stare of the masked jounin. Kakashi kept his stern mask on while inside was congratulating himself there was only one more test left. "So who were going to take the bells?"

Ino seemed to be waiting the question as she began replying instantly, "Sasuke kun was going to keep a bell while Naruto and I would have cut the other bell in half and keep a piece each."

Kakashi was definitely impressed as he let out a eye smile the tense atmosphere dispersing with his smile, "well done guys you pass, from now on you are team seven. Remember those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their team for rules are even worse than scum." He let out another eye smile as the two blondes high fived and the stoic Uchiha had a smile gracing his lips. 'Obito, Minato sensei watch over us this team carry your legacy.'

* * *

Author's note: here is the third chapter please read and review. Now onto next part any suggestion about pairing will welcome just address the reason why she should be with Naruto I don't do yaoi so no boys as suggestion please. And once more pleas REVIEW/ YOUR FEEDBACK IS WHAT KEEPS US WRITING/


	4. Chapter 4

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental._

Eye of the tiger

One week had passed since the formation of team seven but they had done nothing but team training. More often than not the three of them teamed up against Kakashi trying out various set ups and positions for the field.

For Naruto this week had been enlightening to say the least. According to his new sensei the reason he could not pass the conventional exam was never a fault on his part. He simply had too much chakra to be tamed at such a young age. He currently was trying to keep a number of leaves attached all over his body. And he was slowly succeeding every try exceeded the time limit of the previous one.

Sasuke was doing two hundred pushups a little to the side his body was glistening with sweat; Ino was sitting beside him trying to read from a scroll while every five seconds her eyes will draw to the Uchiha. "Yo" a voice from behind Naruto announced their teacher's arrival.

And soon the three of them stood in attention facing their lazy and pervert sensei that had his nose buried in the orange book he always carried. Without even raising his head to meet his students Kakashi continued in the bored monotone he always used, "alright team the week we dedicated to training only is finished today, and I am impressed with the progress you have made. From now on we will start doing missions in the morning till afternoon and then we shall train the battle simulations we had been doing. This will be our routine for every day except the weekends we shall work on individual improvements then."

The three genins yelled their affirmative at the same time and followed their leader. Kakashi whistled a merry tune as he saw his students curse silently. Whatever Naruto had expected a mission to be it never was cleaning the house of some lazy ass. He sincerely hoped that this kind of mission was just accident.

* * *

But the following days proved to him that these so called d ranked missions were nothing but menial labors. Still he didn't complain rather let all his frustrations out during the battle simulations and spars that concluded the day. Right now he was facing Sasuke in the spar. Sasuke had his traditional Uchiha fighting style while Naruto took the tsunami fist stance.

As soon as Kakashi signaled them for begin Naruto moved in his left fist lashed out in a powerful punch that Sasuke dodged simply moving his head back out of Naruto's range. But his eyes widened as he realized his mistake a kick hit him straight in the abdomen. Sasuke quickly jumped back to gain some distance but he didn't get the window of time he was hoping for. As Naruto was quickly on him but this time every single attack of his was blocked.

* * *

Sasuke stifle the cry of pain that was trying to find its way out of his throat the blond sure packed a lot of power behind his attacks but he was slow at least slower than he was. And he knew he had to capitulate on that point. He blocked the incoming attacks until one attack provided the opening he needed. Sasuke smiled as he saw Naruto do a double take as soon as he lost his balance but the whisker cheeked boy never managed to regain his momentum as sharp jabs from the last Uchiha forced him back on to defensive.

Naruto was blocking most of the hits still a few were constantly getting in. Sasuke's accuracy and agility was greater than his own but still he could take this kind of punishment for a whole hour. Sasuke seemed to be tiring as well. A formed in his lips as Naruto pushed chakra in his feet and lashed out with a high kick at the raven haired boy.

Sasuke saw the kick coming and charged in with a low punch as well. With a quick duck the kick went missing while the punch headed true the blonde's stomach. Until a hand hit the fist from sideways deflecting the punch. Both the boys jumped back they had been going on for a while now both panting and bruised.

* * *

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Kakashi watched the boys fight it out while feeling proud both of them were quite strong for their age, Sasuke was always a genius but in this short time Naruto had proven to him how much hatred can blind someone. He felt himself blessed to have a team that can grow to rival the sages only if he manages to teach them that much.

Naruto was the perfect front line warrior, he had chakra capacity of a monster, and he had stamina and a lot of endurance everything that a frontline fighter should have. And Kakashi knew exactly how to mold him but for that he will need to learn the boy's elemental affinity. While learning manipulate the elements was considered high level tech one could simply learn a jutsu of that element at least twice faster than any average shinobi.

Sasuke was just what a true Uchiha should be, he had above average chakra capacity and control but above all he had skills rarely seen. A perfect assassin, smooth and fast Sasuke was the key on which team seven's success depended.

While Kakashi did take care of the boys under his care the very thought of the girl under his charge slipped his mind. He would take special care of the boys teaching one of them personally while letting a shadow clone teach the other about strategy and sorts while Ino would sit and ogle the last Uchiha shamelessly.

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While she would never admit it out aloud she had been quite disenchanted with the new reality of her crush. There was a dark and cold void in Sasuke that she didn't feel sure she could fill. The time in team seven had been strange for her, she had been closer to Sasuke more than she had been in academy but she had seen a new side of the blonde boy as well. Naruto was not the joker they had assumed; he was almost as strong as Sasuke and he possessed a depth that intrigued her.

Team seven operated like a well oiled machine even though it was only d ranks the genins proved themselves willing work along with others. Sometimes small scuffles would break out between the two boys but both of them would hold on till the customary sparring session to vent their frustrations.

"This is flower girl here; I see the target over"

"This is maelstrom here I am moving in for apprehending the target."

A third voice replied them, "This is avenger, and I am ready. Begin operation hell cat."

Crouching on top of the shed overlooking a certain feline codename, 'maelstrom' smirked. A single hand seal later one more shadow clone appeared beside him. The original raised his hand giving a silent count down to three. As his countdown ended one of the blondes transformed into a net while the other one threw it at the unsuspecting cat.

Or so was the plan, the cat dodged the net as if he was born for that job. But the feline brain failed to comprehend the cunning mind of shinobi as the net lying behind him transformed back and got hold of his neck.

Two more figures appeared beside the other blond boy standing victorious. "That was a passable work dobe." The monotonic voice of the lone black haired member pissed the hell out of Naruto. "Next time you do better" he replied through clenched teeth. "Huh Sasuke kun can do it faster than you can blink idiot." Ino took her chance to support Sasuke.

"There won't be any next time" the lazy voice of their instructor came as he leaned against the opposing building his orange book held in front of him. Kakashi Hatake was an enigma, he appeared lazy and pervert. He was lazy and a pervert but beneath it lay a blood thirsty battle hardened warrior whose skills few could match. He might seem uncaring but every day he would check upon his charges watching them as the silent sentinel he was

"What do you mean sensei?" Ino chirped she was relieved to be rid of this cat; her clothes had patches of mud on it souvenir from their search. While Sasuke remained silent Naruto let out a big sigh of relief, "thank god I really hate this cat" his face bore various scratches the cat gave them before he had locked it up in a cage Sasuke supplied.

Kakashi eye smiled at his team he was happy that slowly but surely Naruto was healing from the emotional trauma of watching Iruka die. He knew of the boy's habit of regularly visiting the grave and spending hours there but at least Naruto was no longer drowning in self pity unlike himself. He replied, "I think it's time you guys take it to next level."

* * *

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he saw his team cheer as a whole even the stoic Uchiha smile. 'I hope my decision doesn't come back to bite me in the ass' he prayed silently.

The journey to the hokage mansion was a swift one, they entered the mission room and Naruto went ahead to hand over the now snarling cat to the client a big fat lady. "That was another job well done by squad seven." Commented Sarutobi Hiruzen once titled the god of shinobi smiling slightly as he smoked his pipe. "You bet old man we are the best." Naruto announced boisterously it seemed as if the mere sight of the old kage triggered a lot of happiness in the boy.

Chuckling slightly at being called old while the others looked horrified, Hiruzen spoke, "well that remains to be seen but for now what about another d rank?" this time it was Hatake Kakashi who strode forward, "excuse me Hokage sama but I deem my team ready for a c rank." The slight arched brow signaled Kakashi to explain, who nodded and continued, "My team has shown correct aptitude for team work and has been trained in mock battle situations but unless they get the taste of real world I fear their progress might get hindered."

Sarutobi could see the reason behind the man's argument his sources also told him that team seven was currently the best genin team from this year but it was too early for a fresh green team to take on c ranks. He knew that this rank was where most of the accidents occurred as the client often lied about the importance of the mission and he had to pay with the loss future generation.

PAGE BREAK

Naruto had been enjoying the day more than almost every other day in his life, being an orphan and the demon brat he had never crossed the boundary of leaf until this day. They were to guard a caravan to clothes to the border towns of fire country in process crossing the entire of the country. But he was a bit disappointed at the very little change of scenery.

He walked along the left side of the cargo while Ino sat on top of the cart her eyes closed and her consciousness trapped in a bird scouting the area. Suddenly her eyes snapped open jumping down she yelled, "A group of bandits at two kilo meter distance nearly 4'o clock." Kakashi nodded his head from his position at the head of the spear. "Any more details" he asked calmly his mind already working on a plan to get his charges acquainted with the harsh reality that is the life of a shinobi

Ino felt all the eyes on her, she was desperately trying to remember the details but this was her first attempt on something nonhuman and that made her confused. She replied haltingly, "I am not really sure but I think there were some archers in the pack. I think about five to six."

Kakashi knew the information was not enough but it was all he had at this point. He signaled the merchant to stop and called the genins close. "Sasuke I will leave the archers to you be as stealthy as you can be. Naruto you will encounter the melee forces and ino use your technique to pit as many of them you can against themselves. I will step in if necessary."

The team as one yelled their affirmative and Sasuke took to the trees aiming to reach the bandits before his team this will be his first test. This will be where he will prove that the Uchiha name still lives. Naruto had made one shadow clone to take Sasuke's place his face hard set no more the boy with a smile could be seen. His visage was of one who had faced death before. Ino trembled she was scared but she refused to give in.

PAGE BREAK

Nearly fifteen minutes later the cargo had to stop because of the log that blocked the path. Inside his mask Kakashi smirked the action was starting. And sure enough fifteen men all in some wooden armor and katana charged at them. Naruto muttered his favorite jutsu name as he dashed ahead to intercept the bandits. Twenty shadow clones formed at his side with the kunai drawn they leapt into battle.

The bandits paused for a moment as they saw the kid making replicas of him. This suddenly seemed a lot complicated than before but their hesitation didn't help them as their fore most warriors were attacked by three blondes at the same time. They didn't really understood what hit them as three orange blurs hit them before they were knocked out.

Naruto lashed out at the person who he figured out to be the leader his two clones right beside him. Unlike his earlier opponents this guy was not shocked he slashed his katana downward at the approaching shinobi only to find a metal knife blocking the attack. Scowling hard the man tried to press harder only to feel incredible pain. Glancing downwards he saw the grinning face of the two doppelgangers as they lodged one blade each in the bandit's body.

Naruto froze as he saw his victim vomit blood before crumbling down the scene was so familiar he could almost replace his sensei's face with the bandit's. The clones that were fighting different opponents froze as well before disappearing in the cloud of smoke.

Kakashi was feeling proud the way his team was handling itself, his clone that was tailing Sasuke had dispelled to alert him of the job's success. But he felt like cursing aloud as he saw Naruto sink into his knees haunted by his ghosts. 'Come on Naruto don't give in' Kakashi screamed in his mind.

A fireball nearly the size of a medium sized rock hit the bandits scattering them as Naruto watched on blankly. He saw Sasuke join the fight holding the remaining bandits off. He knew he should join the fight help Sasuke but his body felt like molten lead. Until a soft hand lay up on his shoulder the warmth broke him out of his trance. Ino stood behind him her hand laid on his shoulder. Her presence gave him comfort gave him power. And once more the clearing was filled with clones. "Sasuke get away" Naruto yelled as his clones each threw a handful of shurikens before calling out, "shadow shuriken jutsu" a deadly rain of steel fell upon the bandits leaving only a trail of dead bodies as the aftermath.

Kakashi nodded in grim satisfaction two of his team had drawn their first blood today, while Naruto initially took it very hard he managed to cope and in Kakashi's book results were everything.

Two days later

They were returning to the village the rest of the mission was a piece of cake but the training was not. Kakashi had once more upped the ante as he had the team master tree climbing in a day before setting them up on different jutsus. Naruto as it turned out was a wind element making him the perfect companion for the last Uchiha.

The battle had proved to son of white fang how weak the female in his team was but unfortunately Ino's chakra reserves were too small to do anything other than her family jutsu or healing jutsus. Both of which Kakashi had no experience in. so for now he settled with training her stamina and accuracy in close combat.

Currently he sat on the top of a tree watching his team train and interacting with each other in great interest and amusement while Ino did loosen her crush she would still vehement support the Uchiha in matter against the third member of the team. 'Much like how my team used to be' Kakashi mused silently. Suddenly a shrill cry of bird was heard instincts honed by ages in battle told Kakashi that this was a herald of bad news. Sure enough a bald hawk the messenger bird used by konoha swept down wings spread. The bird landed on his shoulder out stretching its leg. Kakashi removed the letter tied to the bird's feet and the eagle once again soared up in the air.

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Sasuke had stopped training the moment the eagle arrived he had never seen such a majestic bird before. The way it flew told him that the bird knew his strength and he had pledged it to Konoha much like Sasuke's family did. While he didn't show it to his team the killing had affected him as well. The splattered red on the grasses was so like his nightmare. Just like the day when that man had painted his world in red.

Kakashi burned the message with a small katon jutsu his lone visible eye hard like steel. "We are moving to wave" he called out, "we have only half a day's time to reach there. So there will not be any breaks in between."

And with that team seven set out in a journey that would shape the team's fate.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Next chapter: wave arc

Please read and review I know I was late but I was busy with my college stuff so please excuse me. AND GUYS THESE ARE THE GIRL'S I HAVE SHORTLISTED PLEASE TELL ME WHICH ONE YOU WANT.

1 INO

2 TEMARI

3 HAKU(FEMALE) IF YOU GUYS WANT

4 YUGITO

5 KUROTSUCHI


	5. Chapter 5

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

Awaking the demon

Mind is the strongest weapon a human possess. It is the greatest mystery; it alone holds the key of making or breaking a person. Yamankas were the masters of this mind. Their abilities allowed them to venture deep into the unknown and seek out the truth.

Ino was no exception, if there was anything that attracted her even more than Sasuke it was the psychological lessons her father used to give her as a child. But even then she never really had to apply it in real life, until today. Ino still felt ashamed at her performance in the real fight, she completely froze as the bandits charged at them, and then Naruto dashed in. the boy's enthusiasm for mundane matters changed into the prowess of a shinobi. Until he froze, and that part confused Ino while she was feeling nauseous at the mere sight of killings it was evident Naruto was not then why did he froze like that.

Currently they were sitting in a wide circle with a small fire burning in the centre, despite Kakashi's attempts they couldn't reach the border of wave country where they were to provide assistance to the team already there. Ino sat leaning against a rock letting the cold wind of night soothe her aches while again and again her eyes would wander off to the whisker cheeked teen.

She was curious and was determined to know the truth. With a light groan Ino stood up and slowly made way to Naruto the fire light casting ethereal glow to him. "Hey Naruto mind if I sit here?" she spoke softly. "Sure if you want" the answer came. For a few minutes the two teens sat side by side in absolute silence broken only by the chirpings of crickets.

"You know I never said thank you." Naruto's voice was barely more than a whisper. Ino wanted to open her mouth but she froze as an unknown side of Naruto Uzumaki made his appearance a side more vulnerable than anything.

"When the bandit vomited blood it was as if watching Iruka sensei die again and I froze. I promised that I would protect my precious persons yet today I was this close of failing." Naruto had the ability to bear a lot an astounding amount but in the end he was a human and the silent companionship Ino was providing him broke the dam.

Ino sat there shocked listening and knowing Naruto in a way no one had ever known before. She always thought that the boy smiled too much but now she realized it was simply either smile or cry and Naruto chose to smile. To have your very existence looked down upon was something Ino could not even imagine as she was her daddy's princess.

"You know Naruto; you really are the strongest of our age group." Ino spoke finally after a long pause; her little bubble of the perfect world lay around her in tatters. They might not have been friends for long but still her heart felt a pang of sympathy for the blonde a need an urge to lessen his pain. And just like that a friendship was born.

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After dinner ended Kakashi called his team to gather around, "Ok Naruto you will be taking the first watch, after two hours awaken Sasuke and I will take the last watch. And Naruto take this scroll this is the next training exercise for you. Work on this."

Naruto opened the scroll once he had comfortably positioned himself on the top of a tree while his clones were scattered around the land in disguise. One benefit of harboring the mighty fox demon was having perfect night vision. While Naruto had expected the scroll to contain some form of exercise he didn't expect his sensei to leave a new jutsu for him to learn.

Earlier today Kakashi had tested them for their dominant element chakra, Sasuke and Ino both had fire but surprisingly Naruto found out he was wind natured. The toughest and rarest of the lot, now that he thought about it he could see himself as either water or wind. Both of them unpredictable and constantly changing just like he himself was. The scroll held instruction to perform a d rank wind jutsu.

Two hours had passed when Naruto had sank into his knees sweat pouring off his body the rock just in front of him was had several kunais embedded in it. All in varying depth only one kunai had cut clean through the rock thus completing the training assignment. He sat there for a few minutes letting his breath come into control.

Sasuke was awakened by a hand knocking on his temple squinting his eyes to adjust in the dark Sasuke let out a growl as he spotted Naruto sitting there grinning at him. "Wake up sleepy head it's your time." Naruto sang in a singsong voice the expression on Sasuke's face was so damn worth it.

Chuckling after the leaving Uchiha for a few moments Naruto leaned back on the sleeping bag. For twelve years he had almost no friends acquaintances maybe but not friends never friends but now he was no longer alone. Ino Sasuke hell even Kakashi sensei was kind of like a friend to him. In the darkness Naruto whispered, "thank you Iruka sensei for letting me have this I promise I will never let this go."

Dawn soon followed by what seemed to be an unnaturally short night, Naruto didn't mind though he had worse. It was actually kind of funny listening to Ino complaining all the way. They came to the border even before Sun was completely up. Kakashi negotiated with the man waiting there with the boat the genins stayed back. While Naruto couldn't pinpoint it this wet land was unnerving him soon they boarded the boat while Kakashi briefed them on the situation as it turned out the client had lied about the mission perimeters and the genin team was ambushed by some enemy ninja while they didn't abandon the mission team seven had been called as back up and if everything went as planned then they would be meeting them on the opposite bank.

Kakashi didn't tell the entire truth the team that had ambushed was mist's demon brothers both of whom were a part of Zabuza's genin team. And Kakashi dreaded to think what would happen if they really crossed path with the demon of the bloody mist. He sincerely hoped that they reach in time.

As it turned out that god was in favor that day as Kakashi found Kurenai and her team waiting for them on the shore they had an old man with them who looked like he would piss any time. Kurenai was the only one who looked top shape Kiba had a bandage around his ribcage Hinata had one in her left calf even Sakura's dress was pretty dirty and torn. Upon spotting the team seven Kurenai let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. This mission had gone south almost immediately her team took it.

Her first test of her team in real life fight had almost ended in disaster only luckily Kiba was not poisoned. Her eyes found the lone visible eye of Kakashi as the message was delivered. She looked around to see the two teams goofing off well with the exception of Sasuke. She once turned back to Kakashi, "I never thought I would be happy to see a pervert like you Kakashi but I really am glad that you are here." Kakashi smile gave her an eye smile before adorning the persona that made him the legend he is today.

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Naruto didn't see himself as coward or the twitchy sort of people but something about the atmosphere was causing him to be in high alert. Tazuna as the client was called stumbled beside him Naruto's hand gripped the kunai tightly he could swear he had seen the bush rumble for an instant. Deciding to be rather safe than sorry he threw the blade he drew from his holster and a white rabbit came out of the bush looking scared.

Ino froze for a moment when she saw Naruto throwing the blade but let out a sigh of relief when the rabbit came out only to squeak as Kakashi yelled for his team to get down. The whooshing sound of a massive blade thrown across the space chilled her blood. She was no coward but she was the weak link of the team. Mentally cursing herself for not taking this seriously enough Ino got on her feet.

Her eyes widened at the sight that was waiting for her standing on the flat surface of a massive cleaver like sword was muscle bound giant of a man his face covered by bandages. The man's eyes were locked on the eye of her sensei. It was the man who broke silence first the voice seemed to be coming from everywhere with deep chilling effect in it.

"Well well looks like the prey had gathered some strong defenders, Kakashi Hatake the man who copied over a thousand jutsus it will be a fight worth remembering." The man grinned through his bandages. Kakashi's face betrayed no emotions as he replied in an even tone, "Momochi Zabuza the demon of the bloody mist I didn't expect to face you here. I will say this only once, stand down or this will not end well for you."

The man now identified Zabuza merely chuckled before he responded with a heavy bit of killer intent. The genins felt like suffocating Naruto was shaking his kunai felt heavy in his hand, Ino and Sasuke both were in worse condition. Fortunately Kakashi noticed this and flared his own chakra to dampen the oppressive feeling, "don't worry, I won't let any of you get hurt" he shouted before dropping into a fighting stance but that split second was all it took as mist covered the entire area.

The genins formed the manji formation with the old man trembling in the centre all of them trying to see in the mist and failing. An echoing voice came out of the mist, "eight points to choose form kidneys, heart, liver lungs spine cervical vein, jugular vein, brain which one I should go after." A moments silence before a cloud of smoke revealed Zabuza in the centre of the formation his sword already reaching towards Tazuna but suddenly strong tug removed Tazuna from the place, ducking under the overhead slash Kakashi pushed his kunai straight into the chest of Zabuza. Only for him to turn to water, a slashing move came from behind Kakashi cut the crouching shinobi into half only for it to turn into water as well.

Zabuza looked shocked at the display but his eyes widened more as he felt the cold edge of a blade press on the jugular of his neck. Kakashi bit out a curse as this turned out to be a clone as well; he dodged the sword strike that came from behind dropping under the water. But his plan back fired as the water turned heavy.

"Water prison Jutsu complete" Zabuza announced. His one hand was put into the outer surface of the water and with the other he summoned up six clones before ordering them to charge. A brief look of understanding passed on the faces of Naruto and Sasuke each. Pushing the chakra in his feet Sasuke jumped high before releasing the "fire style: phoenix fire jutsu" several fireballs scattered in a wide arc until a unified shout of "wind style: gale palm" was heard. More than ten Naruto clones pushed the wind chakra form their hands feeding the small fireballs until they were four times in both size and speed.

They crashed onto the water clones creating a lot of steam Naruto and Sasuke seemed pleased. But oddly Zabuza was unfazed, "so the boys know a trick or two. But you are only kids trying to be a ninja, until your name appears in my bingo book you are trash."

"Then put my name in your book prick I am Naruto Uzumaki the future hokage of hidden leaf." Naruto yelled before charging off at him two clones appeared beside him in an instant. The three rushed on gaining momentum then suddenly they stopped, the clones launched one kunai each while the original yelled, "Kage kunai jutsu." The two knives become two hundred but the man blocked them all by his huge sword, until he heard the blonde shout "wind style gale palm" once more. Knowing that it's impossible to knock these kunais off target, he simply put his sword in front of him. The massive blade easily covering him but five kunais sank deep into the sword's surface before vanishing with a poof.

The force of the attack was enough for Zabuza to take a step back allowing Kakashi to form a hand seal. Zabuza's eyes widened in horror as he saw Kakashi whisper, "release" and medium amount of electricity took his place instantly electrocuting the sword user, but it was not finished yet as another shout of "water style: water dragon jutsu" came from behind. And a huge dragon made of water slammed into Zabuza.

Zabuza felt the agony as his several bones broke from the pressure of the water, his bandage was stained red from his blood, and he knew he was done for. "How! Even without using your sharingan you triumph over me" Zabuza asked in a pained whisper. But his words reached the ears of the genins for two of them it held no meaning but for the third this was a revelation.

Sasuke was shocked how does an outsider possess what was only unique to the Uchiha blood only to his blood. But before he could say anything or Kakashi move in for the kill several senbon flew out from the tree sinking deep into the flesh of Zabuza ending his labored attempts to stand.

A new figure stood atop a tree branch a sea green dress hiding his body while an odd looking mask hid his face. "Thank you Hatake san I have been tracking him for a few days but he was too strong for me, thanks to you I could kill him. I hope you will not object if I take his body with me." Kakashi's lone eye locked onto that of the masked man before he slowly nodded. He had already checked the body for vital signs and found none.

As soon as the masked ninja vanished four more presence revealed form the mist. Kurenai and her team stood revealed all looking impressed. Kurenai stepped forward before addressing Kakashi, "so a hunter ninja took away your kill huh, Kakashi. But that was a sound plan it took me several moments to pinpoint the chakra difference between you and the clone though I was ready to enter the fray anytime. My invisibility genjutsu would have made me able to close in on him"

Kakashi replied with only an eye smile and together team seven and eight began their journey to the client's home.

Author's Note: from the way Kakashi fights in the shippuden I don't think he should have had so much problem against Zabuza. And he knows over a thousand already why reveal your eye and drain energy faster against an opponent who can use mist to hide when his other senses are so good. And team eight was not in their top shape so the plan was for them to be the secret weapon hidden under Kurenai's genjutsu they would wait until team seven was in deep trouble or the opportunity was too much to pass on. Please read and review I know I was late but I was busy with my college stuff so please excuse me. AND GUYS THESE ARE THE GIRL'S I HAVE SHORTLISTED PLEASE TELL ME WHICH ONE YOU WANT. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER TO VOTE BECAUSE AFTER THIS CHAPTER I WILL DO AS PER THE RESULTS

1 INO

2 TEMARI

3 HAKU (FEMALE) IF YOU GUYS WANT

4 YUGITO

5 KUROTSUCHI


	6. Chapter 6

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

A DREAM LONG FORGOTTEN

Naruto was shocked to see the wave village, poverty hunger and death it was like a hell upon earth. He lived alone he suffered alone but even he didn't see this much poverty. The entire country was dying and he would be damned before he allowed that to happen. Inching closer to the client he whispered, "What happened here?"

Tazuna was eager to reach the safety of his home, while he was confident about the leaf ninja he had with himself he was still scared. He almost didn't notice when the blonde boy asked him something, only when the boy nudged him he broke out of the stupor. "What happened here?" the boy asked but this time with a hint of irritation in his tone. Tazuna tried to smile but what appeared was barely a shadow of one, "Gatou happened, he took over our village like a cancer and now we are dying. My family we refused to give in and so we are hunted."

Naruto was touched even though the man stunk of country liquor he was a warrior fighting a losing battle without giving in. And he would always respect someone like that. Within a few minutes the two teams arrived at their destination Tazuna knocked the door as Naruto took the building and its surroundings in. It could have been a beautiful place had it not been for the sad aura hanging around.

Tsunami a beautiful young woman opened the door. Although small the house had a nice homely feel to it. "Welcome to my home" Tazuna said, "This is my daughter Tsunami and Tsunami these are the shinobi leaf sent to help in our task, without them I probably wouldn't be here now." Naruto could help but blush as the woman turned her reverent gaze towards them. He was used to hatred and scorn but never to the admiration.

Kiba seemed to enjoy the attention pretty well his eyes taking over the curves of Tsunami's well developed body. Naruto could not block the reflexive smile that came upon his face Kiba was always the same hot-blooded horny male. Their moment of happiness ended a new presence entered the room a boy a bit younger than him.

"Oh there is my grandson Inari, Inari come here these men have come to help us finish our bridge," Tazuna called out heartily but that enthusiasm was not returned as the boy looked at leaf ninja's with barely veiled contempt. "Run, run back to your precious little world, you think you can be the hero then wake up there are no heroes." He yelled before running back upstairs.

That outburst set in motion a long chain reaction which began with both Naruto and Kiba flaring out while the others rounding up on their hosts. This revealed a story that was as gruesome as it was tragic. As soon as the story ended Naruto stormed out of the room, his mind a jumble. This story had made him sick and angry. To see your idol killed like that he would have torn the very shit into pieces. It made him angry at the boy, made him angry at the people who tolerated the bastard defiling their hero.

He punched into the trunk of a nearby tree. The tree shook once before stopping down but Naruto's frustration was not gone. 'I will protect this country, no one should suffer like this' his mind kept telling him and blows after blows rained upon the tree until CRACK the tree toppled back . Naruto stood there panting as a gentle hand rested upon his shoulder. Kakashi could very well guess what was going through his student's mind but he knew Naruto must deal with it himself first.

"Sensei, old man always told me a shinobi should protect his village and his people above all but then why didn't we stop this ass hole Gatou from ruining this country." Kakashi always knew of the three Naruto was always the moral one but this question was something that would forever destroy his perceived notion of good and evil. "Tell me what do you think about politics?" his voice low. Naruto was surprised at the question his sensei asked, "I think it's a waste of time and energy."

Kakashi's mind flashed to the secrets he had discovered throughout his life, his voice grew somber as ghosts of past crowded around him. "This world is run by politics, power and money; if you have any of these you are nearly untouchable. It is true konoha could have stopped Gatou any time but then Gatou had money and we stayed back. We could not come to wave unless invited as other villages would see that as intrusion and aggressive take over." His lone eye steeled as it glared deep into the twin blue pools "the world of shinobi is created by blood; all of us have our hand stained with it. Like it or not in the end all of us are weapons created only destroy"

Naruto stood speechless it was like a veil had been lifted from his eyes exposing him to the truth. For a moment silence lingered before Naruto let out a snort, "bull shit we shinobis are not weapons to be used we are human beings first, and if this world doesn't accept it then I will change this world this is my promise."Kakashi gave an encouraging nod to the blonde before returning to house leaving his young student to ponder alone.

The next dawn showed six genins standing in front of their leaders. Kurenai was the first to begin speaking, "while Zabuza is down for the count doesn't mean our trouble is over, as long as Gatou is alive, more nuke ninja will come after Tazuna so for the next few day we are going find as much information we can get about Gatou and train you." Kakashi's lone eye still fixed in the orange book in his hand spoke, "so from today we will be working separately while Kiba, Hinata and Ino with Kurenai will scout the area the rest will be guarding Tazuna with me. After sun set we will meet again. Now dismissed"

The genins all returned to the house packing their rations for the day, Naruto's mind still jumble of emotions, he hardly felt fear but the idea of facing likes of Zabuza scared him. He felt himself trembling so slightly when he remembered the grace the man the monster yielded his sword. Once again a warm touch on his body shook him out of his stupor. Surprised he saw Ino laughing, "jee don't make it a habit now Naruto. Any way I came to say best of luck I wish it had been you or Sasuke kun with me rather than that dog breath."

"hey dog breath is not so bad once you get to know her plus I bet you will learn a lot with Kurenai sensei while I am stuck with a pervert and a drunk sucks to be me now." Naruto chuckled back; he could never thank god enough for giving him this team a team that really sincerely cared

* * *

The bridge Tazuna was building was by every sense a behemoth. Even Kakashi had to stop his curse as he saw this it was no wonder that this country didn't have money almost all their resources were pulled into it. Tazuna smiled behind them their reaction was always a good source to fuel his pride and his hope. He went ahead watching at the gathering workers but his good mood vanished as soon as his eyes took in the number of workers, "shit" he cursed aloud, "six more left this way the bridge will never be finished. Fuck you Gatou and your group of whores"

Naruto was stunned at the size of the bridge it was just unbelievable that something this big can be even built by someone like Tazuna but his attention was snapped back as he heard the bridge builder curse profanities at a high rate. Glancing back at his team mates he had to stifle a laugh as he saw the brooding Uchiha being pestered by Sakura chan. While he still liked the pink haired beauty his desperation had lessened somewhat of lately may be because now he had friends. Anyway he went to stand beside his sensei before whispering, "That old man needs some more workers can I use my clones to assist?"

Kakashi had expected the request from his blonde student and knew he must educate the boy in the harsh reality. Shaking his head in negative he whispered back, "conserve your chakra for now let the fog be cleared then do whatever you want?" Kakashi was all aware that after Zabuza the next shinobi they might have to face will be s ranked and while he himself was a borderline s ranked ninja the genins will be slaughtered. And he would be damned before he allowed that to happen.

Rounding up the three genins now left in his charge Kakashi closed his book with a sigh. This job was going to take his full attention. "All right today we will learn an absolutely must skill if one intends to fight in a watery field like this one." He spoke in a monotone before dropping down from the bridge only to stand upon the surface of water. "This requires a high degree of chakra control and precision and is at least ten times harder than tree walking."

Sakura gulped nervously she had aced the tree climbing but Kurenai sensei told that was because her reserves were too small. She slowly channeled chakra in the bottom of her feet before dropping down, the chakra layer preventing her from her sinking. Sakura let out a sigh at least Sasuke Kun will see how good she is. Two more identical splash indicated that the both the boys had joined them.

Naruto was determined to succeed this was not simply about gaining power now. A whole country's hope depended on their success and he would never let that falter. He could feel his feet sinking gritting his teeth he channeled more of his chakra in his feet for a couple of minutes he stood still but as he tried to walk the chakra faltered. Again he tried only to meet with failure, again and again each time getting a bit closer to the target until in his sixth try he succeeded.

Sasuke had it easier than Naruto after the tree climbing exercise the water walking was a lot easy for him. Or it was until Kakashi ordered them to spar while water walking. Sasuke faced against Naruto his mind still concentrating on the water walking. He soon realized it was a mistake as a solid punch knocked the breath out of his body. Naruto had summoned ten clones all of them water walking, Sasuke braced himself as twin kicks pushed him back. He could not concentrate enough on the fight to successfully use his fighting style and Naruto capitulated on that point.

Some minutes passed Sasuke was still in the back foot trying to block the attacks while straining his eyes. The attack seemed to be getting slower, he dodged an incoming high kick while destroying the clone with a strong punch.

Naruto bit back a curse as he blocked the spinning kick with his fore arm. He quickly jumped back creating a dozen clones. This fight was going on his favor until Sasuke's eyes changed, the Uchiha since then could block almost all the attacks plus this water walking was hindering his style a lot. The blonde shinobi gathered the wind chakra in his palm and together the thirteen voices called out, "wind style: gale palm."

Sasuke was not ready for the super fast wind stream heading his way. He could see the path quite clearly which surprised but before he could think some more the wind hit him knocking him out cold. Groaning in pain as the light hit his eyes Sasuke had to control his urge to shout in frustration, it had been long since he had to endure the screeching nonsense of his fan-girl.

Noticing that Sasuke had woken up Sakura stopped her lecture. "Are you ok Sasuke kun!" she asked in her sweetest tone. "HN!" the stoic Uchiha replied his eyes searching for the masked teacher of his. Kakashi had his book closed a frown marred his lone eye, "Sasuke channel chakra to your eyes."

Naruto was rubbing his head where Sakura hit him for harming Sasuke when he heard the command. His curious nature picking up Naruto turned to face Sasuke only to see his eyes had once again changed into that weird red thing. Sasuke didn't understand the order at first but did as he was told. Then there was a weird stinging sensation in his eyes for a moment before the world became much clearer to him.

"Sharingan!" Sasuke whispered aloud the pride of Uchiha clan had finally manifested in his eyes. 'this is my first step towards my ultimate goal, wait for me Itachi this time you will lie slaughtered as I will laugh' a weird grin appeared at his face. Naruto was confused wasn't this sharingan thing supposed to be Kakashi's trump card. "What is this sharingan?" he asked feeling a bit foolish half expecting to be lectured by Sakura chan but it was Sasuke who commented.

"Sharingan is the pride of Uchiha clan this is what made us elites, like that hyuuga girl this is our blood line limit though I don't know how sensei has it." Ignoring the barb Kakashi ordered them to return to their practice.

He totally hates sharingan, Naruto decided. Because since Sasuke had got this eyes defeating him had been nigh impossible at least the eyes cannot distinguish between his shadow clones and original. But still most of his taijutsu was countered by him only with his wind attack did he managed to balance the scale. All in all in a very bad mood Naruto left the bridge. He was pissed and woe to those who would finally trigger the outburst.

The dinner in Tazuna's house was a merry affair the teams enjoyed the awakening of leaf's prized bloodline. Then the discussion took a graver theme as Kurenai took charge, "this country in basically governed by thugs of Gatou they have six outposts here all with at least 20 persons in each but I have no idea where Gatou is." "Then we shall surely destroy them." Naruto spoke

"Then you will die, all of you Gatou will crush you. You want to be hero but know this there are no heroes. Better go back to your safe worlds what do you know about pain?" Inari shouted his face flushed with tears. For a moment the room had pin drop silence until a soft chuckle broke it.

Ino was shocked when the kid shouted like that but she literally felt stunned when she heard the feral chuckling coming from Naruto. It started soft then grew until it was a full blown laughter but with a fierce edge in it. Ino knew accusing Naruto having an easy life was really saying the desert to be green but she wasn't prepared to see this side of her friend. And frankly it unnerved her.

"You think I had an easy life brat, you live here in your comfortable room you have a loving mother to feed you and you think you have seen it all. I lived on the streets I ate from the dustbin I was hated and I am still hated you think I don't know pain. But you know what kid I am not weak like you. And I will show you heroes exist." Naruto spoke his voice low but still every one could hear every single word of it. It was a voice unlike his own; it lacked the warmth that defined the blond replaced with venom. Naruto could feel his blood pumping in his veins his rage trying to burn the world.

Rising up from his seat Naruto slammed open the door before going out in the darkness. He needed to get rid of his fury and nothing worked better than sweating it out. Massive amounts of blue chakra gathered around him as his fingers slipped into their familiar cross shaped seal. A whisper later the clearing ahead was full with identical blondes. Naruto cracked his knuckles before the horde attacked him. What followed was a true battle royal but with only one spectator as the silent figure of the hyuuga heiress watched her crush blow off steam.

* * *

WITH NARUTO

* * *

Naruto stifled a pain filled scream as a chakra laced kick hit him square in the jaw lifting him off his feet before slamming back on the ground violently. Channeling chakra in his right hand while trying to convert it into the wind natured Naruto lunged back at the army of clones. He had taken more than 200 out his jacket was shredded to pieces he was out of weapons as it was leaving behind two of weapon pouches back at the house. He tried to attack directly with the wind chakra.

Kakashi sensei had told him that wind chakra gives incredible cutting power to weapons. Hoping that same would happen with his fist he drove it through the ranks of clones. As his onslaught ended he was the only one standing his body full of scrapes and bruises the blue glow in his arm faded. His attack was a success a deep gash in the boulder bore witness to the strength of the attack. Naruto tried to grin as his legs gave out beneath him.

* * *

PAGE BREAK

* * *

Even before he opened his eyes something in him alerted him. Naruto snapped straight while his hand reached ahead to grab the offender. "Gah... Argh" the scream in a young voice quickly alerted Naruto of his situation his hand was grabbing the neck of a girl no older than he. "Sorry I really didn't mean to hurt you are you all right?" Naruto spoke in a breath panicking hard.

"Yeah… yeah I am but you really have good reflexes there." The girl spoke massaging her throat. Naruto looked sheepish, "well thank you but I really shouldn't have lashed out blindly like that I am sorry." he said.

"That's all right I forgive you but tell me are you a ninja?"

"Yes I am Naruto Uzumaki and I will be the best ninja the world believe it."

The girl grinned at the energetic blonde before replying, "Nice knowing you Naruto Kun my name is Haku Yuuki." "So what are you doing here this early?" Naruto asked it was surprising to see a civilian at the crack of dawn.

"I am here to gather some herbs, they have strong medicinal properties you know but I can't seem to find them."

"You mean there are herbs that can actually cure people that are so cool." Naruto's childish nature reared its head to make an entrance as the girl smiled at her enthusiasm. "I told you what I was doing here but you still didn't tell me what were you doing here?" Haku asked in a gentle voice.

Naruto would have been suspicious of that girl had he been little bit more mature. But being the way he was he simply felt glad to make a new friend. "I was training, I need to get strong." He replied innocently. Haku's eyes twitched for a fraction of moment the area around her was full of craters while the boy seemed gentle he was not weak by any means. "You seem pretty strong as it is Naruto Kun" she said this time a lot at ease with the boy.

Naruto blushed hard a pretty girl just complimented him and that was definitely a new thing to the blonde teen ager. Add to the fact that he only gained a bit of crush on that girl only made him blush redder. "If you say so Haku chan" he replied his hand scratching the back of his head in a shy manner.

"I am not a girl you know that right" Haku replied in a cool tone while inwardly enjoying the facial expression on Naruto. Naruto seemed to gape like a gold fish for a while it was seriously yucky having crush on a boy when you are a boy yourself. "Bull shit its impossible." Naruto finally managed to speak "no boys are that pretty." Now this was time for Haku to blush, "you really think I am pretty." She asked this time in a totally feminine voice. "Hell yeah." Naruto responded finally relieved to find Haku a girl.

They spend almost half an hour just chatting and finding the herbs. "Will you come again tomorrow Haku chan?" Naruto asked. Giggling slightly Haku nodded her head. 'I really hope you become strong Naruto Kun that way I will not have to betray any one.'

While in the heart of the blonde boy a new hope grew a hope that he had long cast aside. A hope to find love a hope to build a family that he had been denied by his fate. If only he knew that fate still had different plans for him

AUTHOR'S NOTE: SORRY FOR BEING SO LATE BUT HAD BEEN BUSY WITH MY LIFE SO CANT HELP IT. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. WHAT IS THE SECOND ELEMENT NARUTO SHOULD HAVE

1 FIRE

2 WATER

3 EARTH

NOW ON TO THE PAIRING RESULTS

1 INO 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=12

2 TEMARI 1+1=2

3 HAKU (FEMALE) 1+1+1+1=4

4 YUGITO 1+1+1+1+1+1=6

5 KUROTSUCHI 1+1+1=3


	7. Chapter 7

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

_Releasing the demon_

The next few days were some of the best days in Naruto's life. He had improved in his training while the new attack he devised couldn't be used until he mastered elemental manipulation, he had learned a new c rank wind technique a really powerful and offensive one. But most of all his meeting with Haku made it more enjoyable to him.

Naruto was well aware of the crush he harbored for the black haired beauty but never managed to tell her about it. Instead he simply basked in the friendship found his happiness again and again. Sitting against the roof of Tazuna's house Naruto let out a sigh 'our training in stealth is almost done maybe in one or two days I have to leave wave. I wish I could meet Haku chan even after this'. Absentmindedly gazing at the stars overhead Naruto tried to imagine what life would feel like once there will be no Gatou in wave.

* * *

Kakashi stood with Kurenai going over all the details they have found. The base of Gatou was well fortified but nothing that would bother the jounins. Still Kakashi could not shake off his sense of dread thinking fast for an effective way to solution 'I have to cover every single base if I intend to strike a decisive one. That means both me and Sasuke will have to guard the bridge builder, more shinobi may come for Tazuna's family but who can I spare, Kurenai and Hyuuga and Haruno along with Ino will be best for infiltrating and destroying the bases. So I have only Kiba and Naruto with me. And one of them must go with Kurenai in case there is melee combat taking the brunt of the thugs.'

Cursing mentally for not having an accurate plan Kakashi decided to leave Naruto in the house hoping that he might be able to provide assistance to both sides and deal with any threat coming at him. The next morning was followed with a hint of urgency the war path had begun. Kakashi and Sasuke both of them gifted with sharingan, Kurenai was with the girls and Kiba while Naruto stayed back to protect the family.

He stood at the door and saw rest of the konoha shinobi leave with their senseis his jaw hardened. Naruto knew exactly what was at stake if he failed. His hand reached ahead to touch the communication devise attached with his ear. 'I will not let you down sensei.' He swore in his mind. Pushing chakra in his legs Naruto jumped up on the top of a tree. Keeping his eyes peeled and senses widened enough Naruto quickly summoned ten clones. All of them as if following some unspoken command transformed into various inanimate objects scattered around the area, while Naruto himself stood atop the tree. He had laid his trap now it was only the waiting game to be played.

With Ino

Ino was nervous but thankfully she was not the only one. All of the genins were nervous and rather jumpy. Taking a deep breath ino tried to relax panicking would do no good here. 'Plus it is the first of these kinds of missions I am taking. It's only natural to feel scared' she tried to reason. Besides her the hyuuga princess had her fist clenched and her byaakugan blazing scouting ahead, Kurenai sensei and Sakura took the rear while Kiba was in front.

"Sensei there is a lone thug ahead" Hinata suddenly called with a faint whisper, Kurenai nodded and signaled for Ino to move in. this was just as they planned Ino thought as her hands moved in to her familiar seal, "mind body switching jutsu." A moment later the thug entered the seedy looking pub he was aiming for.

Really trying hard not to show the feeling of discomfort ino went on to seat in a table at the corner. 'Now it's all the waiting game.' Moments passed as ino would have started fidgeting but thankfully just then a big burly man decided to break the silence , "Everyone be prepared orders from Gatou has come. We are to meet him near the harbor."

"They are all going to attack today." Ino spoke her face devoid of color. However she relaxed once she saw the grim satisfaction on Kurenai sensei's face. "It just makes it easier for us. Where are they going to meet?" she asked her body language calm and calculated yet resembling a predator. "The man in the pub said they will regroup at the harbor." Ino supplied from her memory.

Like arrows released from bow they set off once more, while they could just take them all out now it was also a race against the time. Ino tried to crush her nervousness as she pumped chakra to her legs, drawing herself in level with the person she considered her best friend and a fierce rival, "hey bill board brow, feeling scared?" "You wish ino pig." Their words held no venom simply a way to ease the nervousness they both felt.

Ino had to halt suddenly as Kurenai raised her hand signaling them to stop. "Once the thugs gather here, I will use genjutsu on them to disorient them; I want you to take them down. Kill if you want if not aim to disable permanently." Kurenai whispered her order while the genins nodded. Gulping down the fear that threatened to overwhelm her Ino also nodded. Her hand tightly gripping the kunai Ino tried to take calming breaths.

With Kakashi

As Kakashi and Sasuke neared the bridge with Tazuna trailing behind, a strong stench of dried blood hit Kakashi's nose. 'So it really ends today.' The muscles of his body tightened it was a fight he will have to take seriously. His senses alerted him of the chakra mixed with the mist, 'another from the bloody mist'. A shadow clone appeared right beside him without any hand seal. Leaving the old man behind Kakashi and Sasuke sped ahead. Nearly the center of the bridge two figures stood side by side. "Zabuza… how the hell?" Kakashi couldn't really believe his eyes but there was no mistaking the demon of the bloody mist.

"Surprised to see me," Zabuza's taunting voice came "you see just like you have your pesky students, I also have my tool." The meaning became clear to Kakashi at once it was the hunter ninja from mist or rather the fake hunter ninja. His right hand reached ahead and pushed the head band up revealing a red eye with three black tomoe.

"So revealing sharingan right off the bat, I guess I should be honored" Zabuza mocked lifting the large cleaver off his back almost effortlessly creating half a dozen water clones. "Look there the boy is trembling in fear." He mocked again. But a fierce snarl crossed Sasuke's face this time as he blurred from the space he was in his kunai held in reverse grip. A moment later the six water clones exploded back in water as Sasuke returned to stand by his sensei sharingan blazing in his eyes.

"Two sets of that damned eye…ku...Ku...Ku… this fight will be interesting. Especially when my tool shall crush your petty brat" Zabuza chuckled before the mist once again covered the area and the masked hunter Nin dashed to meet Sasuke in the mid way. Kakashi wanted to help his student but knew Zabuza had to be dealt first. From the corner of his eye he saw a movement quickly raising his own kunai Kakashi blocked the huge sword.

The impact was enough to push him a foot back, gritting his teeth behind the mask Kakashi channeled lightning chakra in his hand cutting deep in the behemoth of a blade. Zabuza jumped back to prevent further damage to his sword his hands already moving through the seals in a rapid place. But Kakashi was called copy ninja for a reason as he quickly caught up to the point and together the two voices called out "water release: giant water crash". Two huge tidal waves rose before colliding with each other momentary blinding every one save the two doujutsu user. Kakashi rushed in his kunai once again glowing with lightning chakra. But Zabuza dodged at the last moment his left foot rising up to kick Kakashi.

Silently absorbing the powerful kick Kakashi retreated once more. The mist thickened even more cautious about making any noise Kakashi tried to widen his senses, even though his kunai failed to cut the place it intended there was still a shallow gash in his biceps and blood flowed from there. Closing his eyes once more Kakashi tried to filter the different senses of blood around, 'bingo' his left hand armed with the kunai went ahead to block the haze of sword attacks Zabuza launched. The moment he felt the blood moving further, his right hand drove in his back pack to pull out a scroll. He flicked the scroll open at his feet before swiping the blood from his kunai.

Zabuza felt an unknown horror in his heart as Kakashi countered his every move almost effortlessly, 'so this is the power of the sharingan. It is really frightening.' He failed to notice the small cut in his right bicep still dropping blood. He wasn't sure if he would survive this day but one thing he knew that his dream to free the mist was a dream worth dying for. He tensed for a moment as he felt a large amount of chakra being utilized near him before he dashed to the spot his trusty blade already in mid swing but this time fate was against him. The ground beneath his feet and a pack of ninja dogs leapt up.

Kakashi was confident of his victory no one could out run his ninja dogs especially when they were blinded by the mist. The said mist was clearing by then as the residual chakra ran out. But his good mood didn't last for long as he felt a new trouble. The air seemed to saturate with the terrible blood lust from the nine tailed fox. Quickly turning back Kakashi's eyes widened as ice covered the entire area a huge ice dragon swirled the sky and the limp body of the last Uchiha lay on the ground. Standing by that body covered in what seemed to be armor made of orange fire was Naruto.

Zabuza cursed aloud as he felt the vile chakra, "shit, Haku run from here." He shouted aloud using a last attempt to save his apprentice but his voice was drowned in a loud chirping noise of birds started. Zabuza's eyes widened in fear as he beheld the technique Kakashi was now using. Lightning seemed to condense in his palm creating a blade of pure thunder, a few tendrils shot out in an arc cutting through the hard rocks and steel like they didn't even exist.

Kakashi knew he had to end Zabuza now and then stop Naruto from getting berserk. His clone had already moved in to stop him but so far Naruto's only concentration seemed to be directed at the masked enemy. He gathered his chakra for the killing strike lightning chakra flowed to the palm of his hand creating a sphere of pure electricity covering his hand increasing the piercing power to cut through lightning. "Behold my greatest attack Zabuza and die knowing that you died by my own jutsu." He must force Naruto back in control and with his sharingan the task just might be done.

Fifteen minutes earlier with Naruto

Naruto was getting bored, a lot of time had passed but no one showed up. But suddenly he heard some rowdy voice gaining closer. Peeping out of his hiding place Naruto spotted two samurai in dark red armor heading towards the house. He sent a silent signal to his clones and waited as soon as the duo crossed the boundary and stepped into the courtyard the trap sprung. Grinning as the samurai duo failed to notice his clones sneaking up, Naruto dropped in front of them. "What do you want?" he tried to sound intimidating and to some extent succeeded. The samurai were startled to see a shinobi they didn't expect any opponent as such but thankfully the shinobi was only a midget. "Listen kid, get the hell away from here or we will chop you to pieces." The taller and leaner thug growled his left hand grasping the hilt of his katana tightly.

Naruto only smirked and jumped at the samurai his kunai already in hand. Even before the speaker realized he was taken out as a kunai embedded in his chest from the behind. The person collapsed without any more sound but things got complicated as the other samurai quickly turned around and with a swipe of his blade cut both the kunai and the clone. Naruto was already lunging at him when the samurai turned back and with a swipe of his katana forced Naruto to dodge.

Growling slightly Naruto quickly summoned six more clones and clashed with the opponent again. This time the samurai was pushed to the back feet as seven opponents attacked him in tandem always going for the blind spot. He was sporting shallow wounds all around his body one of his eyes were blocked by a nasty wound. 'I can't win it' he realized as he stumbled back in his weariness. Doing the only thing that was wise in that situation he dropped his katana before yelling, "I surrender"

Naruto stopped a tiny smirk forming in his features. Quickly binding the guy tightly to a tree, he went inside the house. But suddenly a voice spoke through his earphone "oi! Naruto, Gatou has already sent shinobi at the bridge Kakashi sensei might need some backup." Naruto froze for a moment before quickly creating a clone and ordering it to evacuate Inari and Tsunami, he took to the trees. Pumping chakra through his legs as he rapidly crossed the distance.

He could see the huge bridge at some distance and surprisingly some strange kind of dome what reflected light on to it. Grinding his teeth in frustration Naruto channeled chakra in his feet and jumped straight onto the bridge. His jaw dropped as he saw the sight before him thirteen mirrors made of ice created a dome and inside the dome was Sasuke badly out of breath. Surprisingly Kakashi stood a few feet behind him a scared Tazuna beside him.

"Sensei, why aren't you helping him" Naruto hissed at his masked teacher tone dripping with venom. "Because I am only a clone and my original is fighting Zabuza, I cannot leave Tazuna unguarded." Kakashi replied his tone repentant. Naruto felt bad about accusing his sensei now, Zabuza was a very powerful shinobi it still chilled him in his spine as the fight flashed before his eyes.

"I am going in the bastard seems to be out of breath." Naruto announced before Kakashi's gripped his arm. "These ice mirrors are chakra hardened use the maximum fire power available." Nodding in response Naruto quickly pulled out his bunch of exploding tags and wrapped them around kunais.

"This should be enough" Naruto cried before quickly throwing the kunais one after another at the mirror. But what none of them expected was the masked stranger appearing at the back of the mirror and in quick succession avert the kunais one by one. Tazuna had to gulp once he saw the damage the fight was doing to his bridge. However, thankfully for the old bridge builder Naruto stopped using the exploding tags after that futile attempt.

Instead He quickly made a cross shaped hand seal and a cloud of smoke engulfed him. This time there were shurikens flying at the ice mirrors from four different angles, however the masked opponent was way too fast for Naruto's calculation as all of the shurikens were once again deflected all except one. One of the shurikens was slightly off target as such it just got stuck to the ground inside the dome.

At once a great deal of ice daggers flew towards the four Narutos striking them and dispelling them all. For a moment the opponent felt shocked when the shuriken inside the wall transformed in to the blonde shinobi. Before he once again launched a huge number of ice senbon to the two konoha shinobi.

Naruto quickly gathered chakra in hands before thrusting them out, "Sasuke now, Wind style: gale palm." The last Uchiha quickly threw a number of shurikens. The metal projectiles speed was nearly quadrupled by the wind propelling thus vastly increasing the momentum. The ice senbons were no match for the shurikens now all of them hitting and cutting deep in the mirrors.

"That was a nice move from two amateurs" the masked adversary commented idly as he nimbly danced among the rain of metal. "But can you stop something like this. Ice style: ten thousand frozen needles" an image of the boy appeared in every mirror effectively covering them from everywhere. "Sasuke stay close to me and duck. Mass shadow clone jutsu." Naruto yelled releasing a smoke cloud. Thousands of solid clones of the blonde shinobi appeared creating a dome protecting the two within from the deadly rain of ice senbons.

As the smoke cleared a huge demonic claw of fire went flying from within the smoke colliding with two mirrors. There was large explosion and a sound of breaking. The dust cloud settled to reveal Naruto and Sasuke panting while their opponent stood straight his clothes charred from the intense heat but otherwise seemingly fine.

"That was a good combo dobe." Sasuke was the first one to break the stretching silence. The blonde in question simply grinned. But this slight lack of attention created from their inexperience proved to be fatal as that instant a large dragon made of water charged at the panting blonde. Naruto's eyes widened he knew he should dodge but fear numbed his body and he could do no more but stand as two large jaws came closer to tear him apart. He closed his eyes 'I am sorry Iruka nii san but I have let you down.' But once more his fate proved different as a hard push shoved him out of the line of danger. Naruto could only watch in horror as the large dragon knocked back the last Uchiha. "SASUKE" the scream came almost involuntarily and with it came a fierce hatred and a burning anger. Rage strong enough to burn the entire world to ashes yet continue.

'**_Rip…kill…burn…avenge' _**an ancient voice filled with power and rage sounded deep within the chest of Naruto Uzumaki. At the same instant orange chakra exploded out of his body. It was covering him, twisting around him forming a burning cloak. Tazuna was flattened with the ground simply from the pressure beside him the clone blasted into smoke.

Author's Note: it seemed like a good place to end and I am sorry for the late update but my semester exam is hanging over my neck like a sword of democheles. So pardon me anyway read and review specially about the fight scenes I tried to make them as balanced as possible relating to the current power levels. I mean Kakashi took down edo Zabuza like nothing he fought on par with v2 how the hell he was getting his ass kicked by the real one. WHAT IS THE SECOND ELEMENT NARUTO SHOULD HAVE

1 FIRE

2 WATER

3 EARTH

4. lightning


	8. Chapter 8

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely pairings undecided as of yet._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

_The beast within_

The shadow clone assigned to protect Tazuna quickly vanished in a body flicker. Appearing close to now kyuubified Naruto he quickly made a string of hand seals before slamming both of his hands on the ground calling out, "earth style: mud wall cage". Four walls of solid earth rose from the ground surrounding the boy trapped within. But a spurt of red chakra and the walls shattered like they weren't even there. His blood red eyes fixed on the masked opponent who struck down Sasuke.

But the opponent wasn't sitting duck for the time interval. He finished his string of hand seals and water dragon revolving above his head froze in to a dragon made of solid ice. For a blink of an eye no one moved then like following some unseen signal both combatants vanished from their spots. Dashing straight at the killer of his friend Naruto didn't even flinch when a frozen dragon collided with him. He tore the giant ice structure without losing his momentum landing a solid blow in the stomach of the rogue ninja.

Kakashi was flabbergasted to see the force behind the punch. The boy was thrown far back like a ragdoll. The masked person could feel his rib cages shatter from that impact. Blood was pulling in his mouth even breathing seemed painful. He tried to sit up but that thought died in his head as he felt a burning arm clasp his shoulders. He tried to scream but no sound came out of his mouth. The claws like hands were drawing blood from his shoulders. A hand tore apart the mask covering his identity. Haku waited for the boy she was feeling attracted to deliver the killing blow.

Naruto felt a haze cloud his mind and addle his judgments the only thought that existed was to exert vengeance. But that haze cleared as soon as he saw the face of Haku. "Haku why? Why did you kill him?" tears were streaming down his face the fist cocked to deliver the final punch crashed down on the ground beside. Naruto knew he should kill her it doesn't matter who it was in a fight but he couldn't do it.

Haku felt the grip lessen around her body, she was sorry for the pain she inflicted on the boy but she had no other option. "Because Zabuza Sama wanted me to make sure that none of you get into his way." She spoke coughing a large amount of blood splattered the front of Naruto's jacket. Haku could clearly see the bright tears signing in her friend's eyes and an unknown warm feeling contained her heart. She knew she wouldn't last much longer. But still it felt good to know she was wanted.

It was then they heard Zabuza scream for Haku and a loud chirping of birds. Haku could barely see her master in the distance her eyes were already getting fogged but she knew her master was in danger. She tried to pull her chakra but for the first time in years her chakra failed to obey watched in morbid fascination and horror as the fist encased by lightning tore through Zabuza's body. it was the exact same moment when Haku's body gave out as well.

Naruto didn't quite believe his eyes as he saw the power of his sensei from up close. 'So this is what it means to be elite. Then I will become like this' a silent promise tightened his muscles. But suddenly he noticed that warm body he held in his arms had gone rigid. Another scream filled with grief tore through skies above, even as snowflakes started falling around them.

Kakashi deactivated his jutsu as Zabuza finished his last request, "promise me this copy ninja you will save mist from the blood war tearing it out." He wondered whether the ones titled monsters were really like this simply a warrior fighting for his dream. A message hit his mind as he felt his shadow clone dispel, as it turned out Sasuke was alright but he will have a concussion and is severely low on chakra. But Kakashi knew that the Uchiha could wait, as Kurenai and her team was on their way ETA four minutes.

Going quietly to stand by the sobbing blonde boy Kakashi wondered what he was going to tell him. While Naruto had killed before this one was someone he cared for and that made the killing at least hundred times tougher. Deciding to stay away from the topic Kakashi took a deep breath before he called out to his distraught student, "Naruto, Sasuke lives while he is unconscious his wounds are not life threatening." To his satisfaction the boy seemed to brighten up but Kakashi had one more thing to do. "But before you see him I want you lift your shirt and channel chakra to your body." He instructed, Naruto seemed confused, "but sensei I am not hurt."

Kakashi sighed inwardly before he explained the necessity to check on the seal containing the fox. Naruto grimaced he hated to be reminded of his fate and horrible feeling of bloodlust only increased his feeling of self loathing. Still he quickly obeyed the order without further question.

Kakashi quickly scanned the intricate sealing master piece that the fourth hokage had created. While his proficiency with sealing was nowhere near as well as his sensei's or Jiriaya of the sages, he was quite adapt at the seal crafting and he could easily see that the seal was still as tight as ever. He looked up to the troubling face of his blonde student signaling him to drop the jacket down to cover his body.

From the look of Naruto's face it was evident he was in desperate need of assistance but the arrival of Kurenai and her group stopped Kakashi from speaking. The day passed over in hurry in between the mission briefing and the treatment for Sasuke. Kakashi sighed as he saw the last legacy of his sensei drown himself in despair. He slowly made his way to the sad child. "The life of ninja is never easy Naruto. The world will give you pain more pain than you have ever known and then some more. What you did today was something very few have to go through but I believe in you." Kakashi saw the blonde boy forcefully stifle a sob 'good at least he is responding' he sat gently beside Naruto.

"Let it out. Sometimes it's alright for a ninja to cry." He said using words his sensei told him a long time ago. As Kakashi sat there under the star filled sky giving company to one of the loneliest souls in the leaf village he could not help but wonder if this was karma giving him a chance to repay the debts. But he was proud of his team all of them showed exceptional skills for a green horned genin. Now that Sasuke had unlocked his sharingan he could teach the boy even more but the problem was Naruto. Wind was the element he was least versed in perhaps he could ask Asuma for help but still his pride stopped him. Naruto was his responsibility and he would train him. He watched as the blonde boy in concern was watching the skies with a renewed determination. This boy never ceased amazing him in his anbu days he had watched over the boy many times before finally leaving the corps six years ago.

And he knew just how much this boy can tolerate without question or complains but that was not what surprised him. He was surprised by the boy's resilience he remembered how much he himself was affected by the death of his sensei but Naruto recovered from the grief of losing Iruka emerging as more mature and skillful than ever. Kakashi could only pray that this death would give much more maturity and ability to see the blood stained world as it truly is.

The bridge was completed less than a week later and the two teams from Konoha were starting on their homeward journey. This mission was enlightening for each and every single genin that came. Almost all of them drew their first blood in their mission to wave. It was an incident that would certainly bring huge change in their psychologies and all they could hope for was it wouldn't do some irreparable damage.

Naruto walked away from the place he met with Haku for the few days yet it seemed like he was leaving a part of him in this tiny island country. He could recall every single word they talked about every single laugh they shared together but most vividly he could recall the smell of blood as her lifeless husk lay in his arms killed by his own rage. 'No I must not dwell on the memories. It all happened because I relied on the kyuubi because I wasn't strong enough. This is the fourth life precious to me that I lost because of the damned fox. I refuse to let that giant fur ball claim more of my precious persons.' Filled with new determination the boy left the place to meet with rest of his team.

The homebound journey was peaceful both Kiba and Naruto boisterously competing with each other while Sakura and Ino competed to win the heart of the last Uchiha. Kurenai and Hinata chatted while Kakashi emerged in his smut filled book.

Page break

A week had passed since the completion of that mission and currently Hiruzen Sarutobi the reinstated third hokage of leaf was trying to keep his wits about him. Despite their best attempts Danzou Shimura had still managed to find out enough to pester him again. "I have already told you many times Shimura; I will not hand over Naruto to you." Hiruzen stated coldly his tone made it clear that he had no patience to debate this decision.

But Shimura Danzou is not someone who can be threatened that easily once the prized student of Nidaime Hokage Danzou was the only one in Konoha who could stalemate the third hokage but as the third war dealt grievous wounds to his body. Now he had to walk with the support of a cane while his one eye was covered by bandages. "Genin Uzumaki is not some other ninja that we can spare; he carries a power that dwarfed the entire shinobi forces of leaf and not to harness that power is pure and utter foolishness. A jinchuriki is a weapon of mass destruction do I have to remind you that only the sanins could defeat the might of four tailed monkey in that fight with hidden rock." His voice was cold his words contained hard facts but yet Hiruzen was not swayed.

"Naruto shall be trained in using Kyuubi's chakra I assure you that but not from you. And remember this you old war hawk Naruto is not our weapon. He is our comrade." Hiruzen was beyond pissed now he hated accepting the cold hard facts that Danzou kept sprouting but even he couldn't deny it. Konoha had grown weak with its best shinobi's dead or scattered in the wind and war was brewing he could feel it in his very bones. Konoha would need the power of the strongest tailed beast by its side.

The weeklong rest period that team seven was given ended today. And once again the three genins were waiting for their eternally tardy sensei to finally show up. Ino was the first to break the silence, "I wonder why we even bother showing up early. Kakashi sensei is always late geez the man is worse than Shikamaru." Naruto grinned at her comment, "nah Shika is far worse. But still I really want to see if he gets here in time at least one day." A grunt from the opposite side of bridge was the affirmative they got from their third member.

Sasuke's mind was a jumble for a moment the pain of losing his family had subsided given way to the care free attitude of team seven. But following his defeat by the hands of Haku he was getting broodier than ever. That defeat made him realize how far he was from his ultimate goal. 'If only I had some stronger fire jutsu may be I could break away from the ice prison faster.' But he was broken from his musings by the tell tale smoke cloud appearing in midst of them. Holding his orange book in hand Kakashi strove out without a care for the world. The genins quickly snapped into attention. Without raising his head from the book Kakashi idly spoke, "today you guys are doing survival training. Your objective is to survive until the sunset."

Naruto was the first to vocalize the question all three were facing, "umm sensei just what kind of survival training are we doing here." A creepy eye smile was the answer the genins got before a powerful kick hit Naruto in the abdomen while the other two managed to get their arms in a cross guard to block the punches Kakashi sent at them in rapid succession.

Dropping down to the stream below Naruto quickly formed his favorite hand seal before calling out, "shadow clone jutsu" ten clones quickly appeared beside him. Pulling out a kunai to arm themselves the replicas quickly rushed ahead to charge Kakashi. Kakashi quickly dodged the first few slashes the clones sent at him before quickly grabbing the hold of an outstretched arm using it to block the attacks before going into offensive himself. Even before Naruto could formulate a plan for what to do he saw his clones getting dispelled.

Kakashi dropped down on the water but a large fireball collided on the spot just in front of him creating a lot of smoke blurring the person behind. Naruto took the distraction as a chance to retreat. Quickly regrouping with Sasuke and Ino, as they stood at the edge of the forest. "Dobe create a few clones we need to hide if we plan to survive till sunset." Sasuke's voice was not betraying his emotions, his sharingan already active. Naruto complied at once making a dozen clones. The clones quickly disguised themselves as the team before setting out in four different directions.

Ino's mind was already reeling she knew in direct combat she will be of no help to the boys. Also the only reason they could talk freely like this because Kakashi sensei was giving them the time to plan accordingly but then that didn't seem to be the training goal they had been set today. Her mind clicked at once as she realized the implication of it meant. "Boys it's a trap" she hissed trying to keep her voice down.

At the same instant Naruto was hit with some strange memories. Memories of his own death flashed through his mind. Stumbling slightly at the oddness of the fact he tried to pull his attention once again to the fight at hand.

But that momentary lack of attention was all that needed as shuriken after shuriken began raining on them. "To the forest now" Sasuke yelled before pumping chakra through his muscles and at the instant the entire group setting off. Once inside the deep of the forest they paused balancing themselves on the thick branch. "We can't fight him head on and survive we need to hide but at the same time we need some sort of diversion to take him off our backs." Ino spoke her face shining with new found confidence. "Naruto" she continued "how many clones can you make successfully?"

"Around a thousand" the said blond answered. His mind trying to figure out the route this plan was taking. "Send around fifty at a time. It should keep him busy for a while." Ino commanded. Naruto nodded in response.

In the following four hours till sun set team seven went through the toughest training exercise of them all. They had to muster all their resources to outrun Kakashi who had taken offensive this time. As they sat by the training stumps bruised and tired in front of a sensei who looked surprisingly unhurt and in a very good mood. Although years of practice hid it well Kakashi was tired as well. After all dealing against the combined form of wind and fire chakra is not easy.

It was now time for the evaluation and the particular part Kakashi was looking forward to. Hiding his smirk in his ever present mask Kakashi rounded up on the smallest person of the group. Naruto quickly swallowed a lump in his throat as his sensei's lone eye fixed on him. "Tell me Naruto why exactly were you standing still when you sent out the first batch of clones back on the bridge? Then do you think henge manipulates your smell to be of your targets?"

All Naruto could do was to lower his head the points Kakashi sensei mentioned were valid and ones he completely over looked. But by then Kakashi had moved on to Sasuke quickly and effectively reminding him that having a power means nothing if you cannot use it. The evaluation process continued for five minutes and by then all three members of team seven had a varying range of disappointment and anger.

Kakashi chuckled merrily in his mind as he saw the children acting like….children. He could perfectly recall the fun Minato sensei used to have at their expenses and now it been payback time. Quickly ending the trip down the memory lane Kakashi focused on the business again. "While all of you made some mistake I must commend you on your teamwork. All three of you successfully dispelled the shadow clone of mine. However Sasuke and Naruto use that combination of your fire and wind style attacks only when it's absolutely necessary because the destruction your attack caused in wave is not something I hope would occur here."

Watching the faces gaining color quickly he added as if an afterthought, "and today I am going to recommend you guys in the chunin exams so don't forget to work hard." And with a tiny puff of smoke he disappeared. From their sitting position on the ground the genins now sported a big smile on their faces. Naruto as usual was the first to break silence "any one up for a group dinner at Ichiraku's?" "HN!" came the noncommittal grunt from the ever expressive Uchiha while Ino nodded.

"Then see you after one hour." Naruto said before picking himself up from the ground. Carrying him slowly towards the rundown apartment he called home an odd looking wall quickly caught his eye. Sighing slightly Naruto moved closer before bonking his fist on the kid trying to stay concealed.

"That was awesome nii san just what I expect from my rival….you are the best." Konohamaru shouted enthusiastically one hand still rubbing the swelling Naruto just gave. Naruto gave a bright smile to his self proclaimed rival as the young boy skipped beside him in excitement. 'Trust old Konohamaru to lift my mood.' Naruto thought silently even as the boy continued his glorified tales of pranking the baby sitter. Naruto had to pity the poor soul. "oi brat, I need to go now so no playing ninja today but I promise I will join you in the weekends." He called out finally as the time was passing and he needed to have a bathe badly.

Naruto walked on the streets whistling a merry tune wearing only a white t shirt with the swirl like symbol in his back. No sooner had he smelt the delicious smell of ramen coming from his destination the walk turned into a full blown run. "Hey old man three large bowls of pork ramen." He called out even before entering through the flap guarding the stall.

One calm voice calling him "idiot" was what greeted him. Sasuke had been first to arrive and due to the crushing training they did earlier decided to eat something first. He was half finished of the medium bowl he had asked for when that dobe interrupted.

Naruto quickly sent a glare at the raven haired boy before flashing a grin at the kind hearted family who ran the shop. Ayame the daughter of Teuchi the ramen chef came out of the kitchen her face broke into a large smile as she saw the grinning face of her best customer. "Hello Naruto Kun I was wondering when you would come in. after all today you seem pretty late, please wait dad is already making your order."

Naruto simply nodded his head as he started chatting with Ayame happily. That was how Ino found her team mates. "Good evening Sasuke kun, Naruto." She greeted energetically. Sasuke as usual ignored the greeting while Naruto replied with a hi before resuming his chatting with the bartender. "Three big bowls of pork coming right up" called Teuchi from kitchen before appearing at the counter with a tray full of ramen bowls.

"Naruto did you order for us as well?" ino asked suspiciously eying the size of the bowls. What she didn't expect was the bout of guffawing that followed her comment. Gaining her breathing under control Ayame decided clear up the confusion. "No! Actually this is the just the beginning of what he will eat alone."

"By the way you two are in team with the brat right?" Teuchi asked it wasn't every day he gained customers who were friends with the village pariah with the exception of Hokage and after the death of Iruka the number was nonexistent. "Yeah, we form the team seven." Said Ino, "I am Ino Yamanka by the way." "Sasuke Uchiha" was the monosyllable answer from the Uchiha who was looking over the menu.

"Naruto you never said anything about your mission to wave." Teuchi asked he had been troubled by the boy's reluctance to speak anything in this matter. With the loss of Iruka Teuchi had taken the responsibility of the young boy on his shoulder. After all not many people knew about the loan he had taken from the resident Uzumaki about sixteen years ago. It was his way to repay the debt.

He had hoped with his team mates present Naruto might finally tell what was bothering him but he presumed wrongly as Naruto shut up tighter than a clamp. It was as if the temperature around the stall dropped by a few degrees at that instant. Quickly draining his bowls Naruto put the money on the counter before yelling, "Got to go see you guys later."

Dumbfounded Teuchi could only say, "what did I just say?"

Page break

Somewhere near the border of konoha a man stumbled against a big tree his cloak in tatters around him. As moon light shone upon him dried blood glistened like black rubies. He was out of chakra and soon his pursuers will find him. His only chance of survival lay within reaching the leaf. It has been two days he is running straight defending himself against the opposition.

Just by sheer determination he stumbled in to the forest covering the entirety of konoha. One two three even the steps seemed to be too much for him as he moved closer. Hoping desperately that leaf shinobi will not skewer him at the mere sight. Even his second chakra source seemed to be silent. 'Damn it I can't falter here, Konoha is just around the corner.' He screamed in his mind.

Meanwhile in the barrier and defense head quarters Hiruzen watched the scene unfold with furrowed brow. As soon as the man had stumbled in to the forest, his anbu had called him here now he kept watch by the hidden cameras. The build and the chakra capacity of the man made it sure just who he was. But the question was why was iwa's jinchuriki at his door step spent like the way he was.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**:

ANOTHER CHAPTER FINISHED WITH A BIT OF CLIFFHANGER. FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER THE CHUNIN EXAM ARC WILL BEGIN. AND FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE REVIEWED THANK YOU VERY MUCH HOW EVER I SHOULD CLEAR UP MY PLANS FOR EACH ELEMENT.

WATER: WITH WIND AND WATER NARUTO RECREATES ICE STYLE IN MEMEORY OF HAKU HOWEVER NOT BEFORE SHIPPUDEN ARC.

FIRE: WITH FIRE HE GAINS ENOUGH STRENGTH TO MATCH MADARA'S FIRE ATTACKS.

LIGHTNING: MASTERS RAIKIRI AND LATER BEFORE THE WAR ARC LIGHTNING ARMOR.

EARTH: NOTHING MUCH SIMPLY WIDE SCALE DEFENSIVE POWERS.

NOW YOU GUYS CHOOSE.


	9. Chapter 9

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_ I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

_AUTHOR'S RANT: THANK YOU GUYS FOR POINTING OUT THE GLARING MISTAKES I DID IN MY LAST CHAPTER, I TRY MY BEST TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEMS BUT WITHOUT A PROPER BETA I CAN ONLY DO SO FAR IN MY SECOND ATTEMPT. AND SO FAR THIS IS THE LARGEST CHAPTER I HAVE PRODUCED._

_NOW ON TO THE SECOND ELEMENT REGARDING NARUTO, I THINK I SHOULD MAKE SOME THINGS CLEAR. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES NARUTO WILL GAIN ENOUGH POWER TO USE WATER LIKE SECOND HOKAGE ONCE DID, EVEN HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE ICE UNTILL FAR END OF SHIPPUDEN. THE SAME WILL APPLY FOR LIGHTNING WITHOUT THE FORMATION OF SHINOBI ALLIANCE OR ATLEAST ALLIANCE BETWEEN LEAF AND CLOUD NARUTO WILL NOT GET RAITON ARMOR. BUT BOTH FIRE AND EARTH HE WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN EASILY FROM HIS TEACHER'S KONOHA. SO PLEASE THINK MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE,_

_ SO FAR EARTH AND WATER ARE LEADING THE POLES, SO PLEASE READ AND REVIEW ALSO TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE FROM ME._

_THE CHOICES ARE: 1 EARTH 2 WATER 3 LIGHTNING 4 FIRE_

A strange turn of events

'Come on a bit more… a bit more and I will be safe' he chanted like a mantra in his mind. He had been dragging his body just by his sheer willpower but it seemed to reach its limit as well. As the knees gave out beneath him and he crumpled on the path. His eyes were getting fogged over, 'I can't die like this' was the last thought in his mind before the world went black.

Sarutobi watched the man crumple finally; 'you did better than I expected' he thought sternly. He had already made his decisions, "tiger, cat, boar pick up the man and take him to the holding cells. Rat, inform the medics to come to anbu facility within fifteen minutes." Although age hung heavy on his shoulder, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still a force to be feared. A man who in his prime could defeat entire armies had long been asleep in the time of peace, but this incident had forced him to awaken.

"Storm clouds gather around the elemental nations, once more war will come." He spoke in a low voice. Trouble was brewing and once more death will run rampant; the old leader of the leaf could feel it in his very bones. "Ox, Bear I need you to track down Jiriaya and tell him to return we shall need his strength in the field soon."

After an hour or so

Hiruzen couldn't exactly remember when and why he began smoking. He knew it was a bad habit, hell even Tsunade had warned him about this but he just could not stop it. It pained him to think Asuma; his son had also made the same mistake. Shaking his head to get rid of these pointless thoughts, the Sandaime hokage of leaf once again tried to concentrate on the peaceful scenery of the village before him.

A small flicker of chakra besides him alerted him of the arrival of his anbu commander, quickly crushing the erratic thoughts under the persona of a military commander Hiruzen barked ,"report firefly." The tall man in plated armor and a firefly mask sank in to a deep bow before started speaking a deep voice, "hokage Sama the person has regained consciousness, several chakra disruptive seals have been placed on him as you commanded. And your suspicion was correct he indeed is the jinchuriki of the four tailed monkey."

Nodding at the expected report Hiruzen rose from his seat. It was time to meet with the man in question. He remembered Roshi from the second shinobi world war. It took Orochimaru to finally defeat this shinobi, but by then he had leveled an entire outpost with only three shinobi. Still what confused Hiruzen was according to the report from Jiriaya after the third war Roshi had taken retirement from the shinobi corps. "Why on earth is he in konoha so badly damaged?" Hiruzen asked himself for the hundredth time in the last hour but at least this time he will have an answer.

* * *

Roshi groaned as the world once again came to view. He tried to sit up but discovered his limbs to be shackled to the bed. 'Heh I should have known. After all who would leave a potential enemy in without precautions?' he thought before trying look around himself. The room he was in seemed to be empty but a bed and a table with various machineries.

"I wouldn't try to move so much if I were you." A voice from nowhere stunned Roshi's attempts to unbind his arms. With a small flash the illusion shattered around him and he found himself lying in a bed in what seemed like a hospital with an entire platoon of anbu with arms surrounding him. Directly in front of him sat Hiruzen Sarutobi the hokage of leaf. "Greetings lord hokage, I would have bowed but as of the moment my limbs seemed to be chained." Roshi replied scathingly.

"Cut the sarcasm Roshi" Hiruzen replied calmly yet with coldness in his tone. "I have neither the patience nor the mood to play with words, so you will answer me truthfully and clearly. Do you understand?" The red bearded man couldn't help but feel a shiver rundown his spine at the old leader's tone. Nodding submissively he waited for the questions to bombard.

"Why were you injured?" this was the first question to escape the hokage's lips. "Cause I was attacked by two s ranked nuke Nin." Roshi replied. "S ranked, you say, so who were they and what were they after?" Hiruzen cold grey eyes locked with Roshi's green ones.

Hiruzen was feeling a sense of dread the moment he heard of two s- ranked criminals attack Roshi. His long tenure as a shinobi had won him a sense of accurate gut feeling and this time his gut said, the legacy of Yondaime was in grave danger. Still he hoped against hope itself, and asked for the reason.

"They were Kisame Hosikagi missing ninja from bloody mist and Itachi Uchiha from your own precious village." The jab found its mark, as the anbu present in the room seemed to tense, while lips of the old hokage turned into a mere white line. "You still didn't answer the question wholly. I ask once more, Why were they after you?" the voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi turned colder than death itself. At that moment Roshi was once more forcibly reminded, of the legend of Sandaime hokage.

"I do not know clearly myself but if my guess is correct then it is related to my burden." Roshi answered straightly. He could see the vein clenching at the hokage's jaw. Sarutobi folded his hands before his face, this news was worse than what he expected. 'It seems that poor Kakashi will have to face the toughest battles of his life soon.' He thought solemnly before raising his voice. "Anbu leave us and find jounin Hatake Kakashi, tell him it's related to his charges."

"Now tell me what happened in the fight?" Sarutobi asked Roshi, he needed to know how strong exactly the opponents were. He had confidence in his shinobi's calibers but s ranked nuke nin were not a force to be taken lightly. That's why he needed learn more about them.

* * *

Roshi took a deep breath, as his mind flashed back to the fight. "I had left Iwa for more than a decade. I travelled all over the world while knowing myself a bit more every day. It was my travel that brought me close to Konoha, most of the leaf shinobi I encountered didn't know me just by my looks, and I had long discarded my headband.

However three days ago when I returned to the hut in the mountains, something seemed off. I tried to release in case there was a genjutsu and to my surprise there was. It was a pretty basic one but it had nearly served its purpose as a heavy sword strike almost crashed into me.

I flipped back to gain some measure of distance, before surveying my assailants. They stood there comfortably as if waiting for me to attack. Both of them wore black cloaks with red clouds on it. Kisame was the one who attacked me initially though. He carried the great blade samehada with him.

That sword has strange powers it can absorb chakra based attacks and give it to Kisame to heal his wounds. I found it out the hard way. Once more Kisame moved in to attack me but this time he engaged me in taijutsu only. His strength is formidable, comparable to my own and his technique is solid, however his speed is a bit sloth. I took advantage of that fact to break into his guard and send a powerful upper cut at him. But before I could follow up with some stronger attacks I had to dodge as a large ball of fire exploded just before my face.

I had largely escaped that attack but cloak was a bit singed at the ends. I quickly performed earth style: hidden rock spears to attack but both of them dodged easily before a large dragon of fire charged at me. Only by my mastery of earth style jutsus I blocked that speedy attack. As soon as the attack dispelled Kisame attacked once more but this time with his sword. I sidestepped the attack only to move into the path of his kick.

Being pushed back actually gave me the time to perform my lava style attacks. But against Kisame's mastery of water they couldn't do much. Having no other option I drew upon the chakra of my tenant and charged at them with lava coated fists.

Kisame blocked the punch with his sword however to my horror the chakra layer over my fist vanished. However my other fist had hit true and he was thrown back with third degree burns. I had already entered the one tailed state by then, which I hoped would be enough as any more would have surely alerted your shinobis.

Once Kisame went back foot Itachi closed in without giving me a moment's respite. Thanks to his damned eyes he could dance around my attacks and attack himself with his fire style attacks. So far he had displayed proficiency enough to use A-rank jutsus without or with very few hand seals.

Soon Kisame joined the fray his burns healed and then I saw his blade fed upon Yonbi's chakra and used that to heal him. The fight went for around ten to fifteen minutes. But my chakra reserve's were dwindling Itachi had retreated but Kisame was relentless perhaps they knew victory was near. As my last ditch effort I used a quick rock clone and armed it with explosive tags. The explosion from that clone gave me enough time to perform a body flicker. However number of shurikens with fire chakra added in it, bit deep in my body even as the jutsu took hold. For the last two days I had been running and fending off attacks from them until finally I managed to shake them off this time."

* * *

Hiruzen listened to the fight with rapt attention, his mind detailing the abilities and the weaknesses of the opponents. Itachi was just as he remembered him to be, but it seemed to him, he was not trying to kill Roshi for he could do it even before Roshi had a chance to react.

Still these were grave news indeed, there were very few shinobi who would stand a chance against monsters of these sorts and only three of them were in the village including himself. The entry of two new chakra signatures alerted him of the new attendances. "Ah! Kakashi Kun, I feel glad that you came swiftly as we have much to discuss, rat you are dismissed for the night." Sarutobi spoke even without facing the masked jounin and the rat masked anbu.

Kakashi for his part was bewildered to see the man on the bed. "Excuse, my rudeness Hokage sama but what is he doing here?" He spoke his finger pointing at the jinchuriki. "You see Kakashi, Roshi here, was attacked by two s ranked missing ninja both very familiar to you." Sarutobi spoke his voice belied his urgency, as his brain was trying to process a suitable way to train both the boys quickly enough for the challenges. "I don't understand Hokage Sama; I have fought countless shinobi in my career that doesn't really explain why I am here?" Kakashi repeated once more. Sure he may have known the opponents but he had faced many opponents in battle so why was this so urgent.

"It was Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hosikagi" said Sarutobi, fully prepared for the look that passed through Kakashi's face. "If my suspicion is correct they are after the tailed beasts and possibly Sasuke." Sandaime concluded. Kakashi was horrorstruck sure he was good but he didn't deem himself strong enough to survive two s ranked ninja.

"What is your command for me then?" Kakashi asked the Sandaime hokage. "Train them as hard and as best as you can. After the first two steps of chunin exams you will get a month, make full use of it. With any luck Jiriaya will return by then." "Excuse me but what have you decided about me?" Roshi asked. "That depends on you, if you want you can join our village otherwise I will have just these memories wiped out" was the answer from the professor of Konoha.

Roshi was perplexed, on one hand he was tired of the bloodshed that followed in the ninja, on the other hand Konoha could save him from the tailed beast hunters. "I agree I will join your village." He said after a while "but I don't want to fight anymore."

"That can be arranged quite easily. But currently you have a task for you." Sandaime informed in a tone that left no room for arguments. "You will go with Kakashi tomorrow to meet his team; you will identify the jinchuriki and train him in the use of his biju's chakra." Roshi nodded his head at the given command, this he could do.

* * *

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The next morning found all the thirty six jounin senseis in the hokage's room. Despite being extremely tired from the ordeals of last night, Sarutobi had no other choice but let this meeting take place. "As you all know this time Konoha will hold the chunin exams and all the allied countries are sending teams. I want to know who among you deem your charges to be ready."

Asuma was the first to step forward, "I am Asuma Sarutobi, sensei of team ten and I nominate Shikamaru Naara, Chouji Akimichi and Shino Aburame for this test. I deem them prepared." This declaration caused a lot of whispering to start in the room, after all its not every day you nominate a fresh genin team for the exams. Next Kurenai came forward, "I, Kurenai Yuhi leader and sensei of team eight of Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba nominate them for the chunin exams." The whispering grew in magnitude, even Kurenai the newest jounin dared to send her charges to the exams, was this generation really that much better.

Kakashi stood at the back with his book of porn held near his nose, but his mind concentrating on the command Hokage gave him last night. The genins were forbidden to be alerted of the situation for the current time, that was the decree but Kakashi felt it was a folly. He snapped out of the stupor when he heard Maito Gai nominate his team for the exams, stepping forward Kakashi stated in a clear voice, "I, Kakashi Hatake commander of the seventh squad nominate my team for the exams."

"Kakashi, will it be wise to nominate the team, I mean it contains the dead last from this generation." A jounin with black bandana asked but as usual the question reached the deaf ears. Kakashi collected the forms for the participant's and body flickered away before appearing on the hokage mountain."Took you long enough." the gruff voice of Roshi greeted him, standing head to head on the rocky surface the two watched over team seven.

* * *

"That blonde one is a strange jinchuriki, his chakra reserves dwarf mine even without the beast's help. But why is he so happy?" Roshi asked thinking back to his own childhood. Or if he could call it that, all he had was training, to become the ultimate weapon for his country. A life governed by only blood, trained by the best Iwa had to offer he never had a chance to learn how to live. "I envy him, at least you tree huggers have done one thing we never thought of doing." Roshi said as bitterness filled him to brim. For so long he hadn't cried, even the tear glands no longer knew of their function.

"Don't think like that, Naruto's life wasn't much better. Well he was not turned into a weapon true but he was hated all his life. Still he never gave up; he stood taller than rest and stronger than all. That is Naruto Uzumaki for you, you break him down and he will stand up again stronger than ever." Kakashi answered his mask hiding the smile that adorned his lips. "An Uzumaki you say and that man's child as well, seems like the boy was born for this job." Roshi said, before continuing, "and tell the anbu squad to stand down I am not going to hurt this kid. We are shinobis, we are trained to kill, and it is a silly reason to hate a child for his old man's work." Kakashi was flabbergasted the man beside him just unveiled an s ranked secret most of Konoha never managed to work out.

However he knew better than to just trust the man, he had taken precautions to prevent anything bad happening to Naruto. Roshi managed to sense only one of the four teams tracking him. Moreover he would rather die first than allow any harm to fall upon the blonde. Simultaneously the two s- ranked shinobi body flickered to stand before the team.

"You are late." Naruto reminded his sensei while the rest two settled for glaring at the lazy sensei. "Hey seriously this time I have valid reason for being late. I had to officially nominate you guys for the chunin exams that start in a week." He stated defensively, waving his hands frantically. "Sensei, who is the man standing beside you?" Sasuke asked without caring for tact, the customary scowl still marring his face. He could sense power sleeping within the man, power so strong that it scared him. But then with this power even Itachi would fall, 'I need this power' he thought, 'and then you shall be able to rest in peace mother, father'.

Kakashi's voice quickly broke him out of his train of thoughts. "Sasuke, for this whole week I shall train you in extensive use of sharingan and hopefully take it to the next level." gaining the nod of acceptance Kakashi turned to the lone female of squad seven "Ino, I have spoken with your clan, for the next week you shall receive advanced training from them." Ino nodded a bit disheartened, she expected to train with Sasuke and maybe gain closer to his heart.

"What about me, sensei?" Naruto asked confused at the no mention of him. "That is where I come in?" the unknown man spoke, he had a gruff voice and there was something in him that sent shivers through Naruto's spine. "I am Roshi, a new addition to your village and your temporary teacher. So brat, follow me?" Roshi was seriously having fun; unless he was sorely mistaken the biju that this boy harbored was kyuubi. 'Well I never expected a vessel of that beast to be like this.' Roshi thought as he continued to the spot, hokage had ordered to use.

* * *

"Got to admit that old ass has some choice of spot." Roshi spoke surveying the ground provided, a huge open field with a stream running by it. 'The serenity of this place will come handy.' He thought glancing at the impressed blonde beside him. Stopping once he was sure he was enough distanced from the civilians Roshi motioned his charge to sit. "Naruto Uzumaki, you and I are not so different. Tell me, what is it that ties us together?" He spoke to the curious boy sitting in front of him.

Naruto heard the words and subconsciously his hand inched over his stomach, the seal that chained the great beast. "We are monsters." He replied in a small voice. "Wrong, neither we nor the ones we guard are monsters." Roshi corrected, before continuing, "We are weapons like every other shinobi, and the only difference is that we are hated while others are worshiped " "But that is wrong; Kyuubi almost destroyed our village without any reason." Naruto argued back. "That's what it seemed like, but since when we get to see everything as it truly is. The most important rule for the shinobis is to look beneath the surface." Roshi said calmly, "I have harbored the four tails in my body all my life, and I can tell you this we are not so different." "Then what of the blood lust I felt when I tapped into its chakra." Naruto argued back, Haku's death had filled him with reluctance to ever use that vile power. "If I left you chained and trapped in darkness for all your life, then hatred will be all that you can feel. That is the way human's treat them." Roshi answered finally shutting up Naruto.

"Today I will teach you to contact your prisoner and talk to him. For one day this power may very well save your life." Roshi spoke in a stronger voice, "don't you think people can be mistaken just like they mistook us for the jailed." Slowly but surely the message was starting to sink in Naruto. The deaths of Haku and Iruka flashed in his mind. 'If I could control this power then they would have been alive. Just because I couldn't control the power it ended up killing Haku chan' Naruto thought with no small amount of bitterness.

"However this kind of power must only be used in emergencies unless you want to die an early death." Roshi spoke airily while his charge freaked out. Once Naruto had managed to calm down enough, Roshi began the instruction. "To meet the biju, you must concentrate on your chakra and pull yourself towards the chakra that will feel different." He instructed as Naruto closed his eyes and tried to get hold of the chakra.

For a while nothing happened, only silence governed as Naruto grew frustrated but then he felt it, his chakra warm and powerful flowing around him. It cut him from the noise and hubbubs of the daily life a whole new kind of sensation. Until he felt a different power lurking at the corner, more potent and corrosive feeling, 'is this Kyuubi's power? It is really malicious feeling.' Naruto thought before pulling himself deeper to reach the source of that power.

Roshi was astounded at the amount of chakra flickering around the blonde. 'He is channeling chakra all over his body; the boy has inadvertently used a very powerful technique.' He pondered on the true capacity of the young boy while on the surface this boy resembled no characteristics of the yellow flash. It seemed that genetics had done his job correctly if the potent feeling of chakra was anything to go by.

* * *

"What the fuck is this place?" Naruto cursed out loud, he had tried to locate the core of that chakra and in turn landed here. By all accounts this place was nothing more than a sewer well a pretty big one though. Ankle deep water filled the place, as Naruto moved forward trying to find an exit. The tunnel opened after a while in front of a huge prison gate or the front of a cage. A piece of paper with intricate symbols hung from where the lock should have been.

While every muscle of his body screamed to turn back, Naruto felt an unnatural pull from that cage. He stepped closer until the distance was less than six feet. "**SO** **MY JAILOR COMES TO MEET ME." **Voice dripping with venom spat. And two glowing eyes, ten times size of a normal beast's materialized in the dark. "**TELL ME, WHY SHOULD I NOT TEAR THE FLESH OUT OF OUR BONES?"** The great beast roared teeth longer than swords glistened in the light. "Cause you can't kill me, if I die you die." Naruto yelled back the mere sight of the beast was filling him with hatred, as years of loneliness, hatred for doing something he never did.

* * *

Roshi cursed inward as he could very well feel the power in the boy fighting within trying to defeat himself. 'Hey old ape, it is time to help the kid out.' Roshi called out to the beast caged inside his very being. And a burning shroud covered him before reaching out to Naruto's body.

The anbu squad watching over them jumped into action. One fluid motion drawing Katana from their backs they charged a lone hand signaled them to stop. "Now is not the time, they are in control." Spoke the man with bear mask. Before looking at two weapon of mass destruction, communicate with each other.

Naruto suddenly sensed he was not alone before he heard another booming voice in his head, from a far, "**_don't judge someone without knowing, young one. There is more than what meets the eye in case of this big furred fox_**." 'Who are you' Naruto thought, '_**you know me as yonbi**_.' The voice replied, before a red surge of chakra from the cage broke the connection. **"STAY OUT OF HERE." **Kyuubi roared shaking the cage violently, "**I DON'T CARE FOR YOU, YOU OLD MONKEY." **Naruto got to his feet, "that hurts, fur ball no need to get so violent. All I want to know is why you attacked my village all those years ago?" he shouted.

"**WHAT IF I SAY, I JUST FELT LIKE DESTROYING IT."** Kyuubi answered fixing his one eye in a staring contest with Naruto. "Then I don't believe it. Monster or not, no one acts that way." Naruto replied feeling a strange calm even as he faced the terror incarnate. "**MONSTER, YOU DARE CALL ME MONSTER. WHEN ALL MY LIFE I HAVE BEEN CAGED AND USED BY YOU PUNY SACK OF FLESH. YOU CAME HERE TO CONTROL MY POWER DIDN'T YOU THEN TASTE IT." **a lone tail sneaked out of the cage wrapping around Naruto's ankle. "Gaah…" Naruto screamed in pain, he could feel the orange chakra creating a shroud around his body.

Years of being neglected by the citizens flashed before his mind, and the whispering in his ears was slowly driving him crazy. He was losing himself to the rage, until the words of the Iruka flashed before his mind. _""Well I couldn't let my...cough...cough...little brother die could I?" _he felt the rage lessen as the words of Iruka flashed again and again until slowly consciousness came back to him. And once again Roshi's word came back to him "_neither we nor the ones we guard are monsters." _Gritting his teeth against the pain Naruto called out to the great beast, "I am not like them kyuubi. I can understand what you must feel like." The pain increased tenfold as the beast's unblinking eye fixed on the blonde. "**YOU CLAIM TO KNOW ME, THE MIGHTIEST OF TAILED BEASTS. THEN PROVE IT REMOVE THE SEAL SET ME FREE." **The beast roared, Naruto could feel a chakra tail to form behind him. "Maybe someday I will but first I will make sure every bit of your hatred is gone." Naruto said, miraculously he could feel the pain lessen. "**YOU MAKE ME LAUGH, KIT. I SHALL GIVE YOU ONE CHANCE. YOU MAY TAKE ON MY POWER AS LONG AS YOU CAN CONTROL. BUT BE SURE THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY. RIDDING ME OF MY HATRED IS GOING TO BE IMPOSSIBLE. DON'T FAIL ME." **Kyuubi roared.

Naruto opened his eyes as he was thrusted back to the reality. He seemed more in tune with the nature; even slightest details seemed visible to his new eyes. Roshi seemed a bit skeptic, "one tail, is that best you can do. Then I must say it's pitiful." Naruto let the insult slide before a feral grin appeared at his face. "Let's begin the training, shall we."

* * *

As Naruto quickly dropped in to his usual taijutsu stance, Roshi merely cocked his eyebrow, "you have spunk I give you that kid." He vanished in a burst of speed before appearing behind Naruto with his fist ready, only to hit thin air. Naruto had disappeared from that place. Years spent in battle field, honed Roshi's senses to such an extent where mere shift in air pressure was enough to know enemy's position. And that saved him this time. As the drop kick Naruto attempted missed by the breadth of a hair. That attack created a crater where it landed. Standing at the centre, Naruto growled at his attack missing before a fist slammed into him throwing him back.

"You have speed but only speed is not enough." Roshi said expressionlessly, before charging once more at Naruto who was crouching on the land his lone tail swishing in the air. This time Roshi attacked with a high kick that Naruto blocked with his forearm. 'Shit…it was a trap.' Was all Roshi could think before a punch hit him in the gut. Naruto smirked before getting surprised as the Roshi he just punched turned to dust. However he didn't have long to ponder as a rock encrusted fist crashed on the place he stood moment's ago. Growling in frustration Naruto lashed out at the stone creature, which also swung his arm again.

Roshi watched in surprise as the fist easily tore through the construct like nothing. His hands blurred before he slammed them on the ground, 'Iwagakure hidden jutsu: army of rock'. Around him more rock creatures were forming steadily. Once the number reached ten, he stopped feeding chakra to the attack. 'This attack seriously drains me. I wonder how Onoki still use it in larger magnitude." He spoke to no one in particular before body flickering away on top of a tree.

* * *

Naruto growled as ten more such constructs came at him. Quickly dropping in to four limbs he dashed at them, zigzagging and dodging the attacks they sent at him. He closed in on the largest one of the lot. Running straight up he delivered a brutal mule kick to its face. The head exploded in dust as the momentum gained from that kick allowed Naruto to tear through a number of them. There were only three more left, when Naruto could feel an overwhelming amount of fatigue the chakra cloak around him disappeared as a punch headed towards him. Quickly creating a clone to take the hit Naruto jumped backwards. The stone creatures stopped for a moment before breaking down in to tiny fragments.

"You maintained the cloak for ten minutes, which is good; however you didn't use any jutsu why?" Roshi asked appearing before the heavily breathing blonde teen. Looking sheepish Naruto replied, "I didn't think of it." "I deduced as much, it seems that the nine tail's chakra drives you to a baser extinct however your chakra attacks will be more powerful in this state so think of it next time. One more thing I saw you use clones, I must warn you not to use any kind of clones once you are using its chakra." Roshi told, his demeanor changing to a warmer attitude. "You have massive power and speed boost up, if you can train and control them more. You will be able to beat many jounins in this mode. However you must be aware that many of your attacks are easy to read, so work on that more. I shall train you in using you tenant's chakra until the chunin exams start in six more days." "Roshi sensei I have a question. Why can't I use kage bunshin in that mode?" Naruto asked his face scrunching up in concentration.

'he is really a kid, at least he has easier life than I did' Roshi though before answering, "every kind of solid clone divides the chakra in various ratios but dispel with one hit with the exception of the rock clone I used. While we use the tailed beast chakra, the beast can choose to feed on our chakra but only the amount we spend. Right now you spent nearly infinitesimal fraction of what truly Kyuubi's capacity is and he might have taken that chakra off you. So if you use solid clones he feed on your chakra more as your using large amount of his chakra. That's why if you use it recklessly you may just end up dead from chakra exhaustion" watching the kid freak out Roshi had to forcefully suppress his laughter, 'innocent even after being a jinchuriki. You are a remarkable kid.'

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It was the highest honor to be chosen for this task, and Zaku was ready to lay down his lives if it meant success for his savior. He along with two others was given the special task to do in the heart of the very village that caused him so much pain. "Are you ready to set out?" a voice sounded behind him, gentle yet spine chilling. Zaku bowed before his leader, his savior, "yes my lord. I shall not fail you". "Good see that you don't or else I will be displeased." The man spoke before coming forward in the sunlight, his skin was unnaturally pale, but what really set him apart were his eyes. Silted like a serpent's the eyes were yellow in color, more importantly the eyes looked hungry.

Orochimaru watched flanked by his guards as the team handpicked moved out to reach Konoha, a crooked smile played on his lips. "Orochimaru sama, we must leave at once." spoke another man dressed in same way of the traitor sanin. The man had white hair and fair albeit sickly complexion; just above his eyes two white dots were visible. "I know Kimimaro Kun; we shall set out right now." Orochimaru replied. The man nodded before taking his position at the back of four guards.

NEAR THE BORDER OF HIDDEN SAND VILLAGE

A group of six shinobis were waiting for their allies to come. Five of them were clothed in identical flak jacket of sandy color while the man standing in front of them wore a brown cloak covering his body; he was the Yondaime kazekage of hidden sand, a strong and cunning warrior whose ferocity in battle was only surpassed by his will to reach the sky. To make sure that his village stays strong he had sacrificed his wife, and sealed the one tailed raccoon in his youngest child. But lately all his attempts have been in vain, the wind daimio had drained his village dry and this was the last chance he had to retaliate.

His eyes caught the six silhouettes coming from the opposite side, 'so they come, I wonder if I can really take this risk.' He stood tall however despite of the small tendril of cautiousness he was feeling. Orochimaru was the first to greet, bowing a little he called out, "my greetings, lord kazekage it feels good to see you healthy." "Cut the pleasantries, Orochimaru, my shinobi's have already set out for leaf but has the infiltration gone as planned?" Fourth kazekage, Shiroi Subaku growled. A forked tongue flicked out of his lips, as the silted eyes glinted in amusement. "The plan is going perfectly; the only question that remains is the boy capable of doing what he must do." Several tendrils of golden dust shot forward forming spears with incredible sharpness. Orochimaru smirked as the pointy weapons stopped an inch away from his eyes, "you amuse me Kazekage dono, and some would even go as far as say you interest me. As you surely know, my interest is not something you would like to have." The voice was still calm and gentle, yet it possessed steel that unnerved the surrounding sand shinobi. It was in these moments Shiroi was forcefully reminded of the legends that surrounded the serpent sage. 'I am making a deal with the devil, but to save my village this is not a price I can shy away from.' He thought solemnly before the dust weapons scattered away.

As the convoy from sand village started their journey back to their village, the six shinobi in white robes stood for a few more moments in silence. "Orochimaru sama, the risk is too much for us to ignore. According to Kabuto's latest report leaf has already mobilized even your old comrade is returning to the village." Kimimaro spoke ignoring the sudden flare of pain cruising through body. The long tongue flicked out of Orochimaru's lips as the sanin carefully pondered the situation, he was well aware of Jiriaya's caliber but this time he was running out of patience. 'Twelve long years I waited for my revenge on leaf, the country that betrayed me grows prosperous in peace. Every year their fame grows and the ache in my heart increases. I was too weak then but not now, I am closer to immortality than any other man ever managed to come.'

"No Kimimaro kun I shall strike now, with the destruction of leaf's Uchiha clan, my goal seems impossible. I must have Sasuke Uchiha, and chunin exams are the best time." He spoke even as fire started to eat his body from below slowly but accurately teleporting him to his base, the rest of the guards followed suit.

NEAR THE BORDER OF LEAF VILLAGE

Sitting at the gate guard's post Izumo and Kotetsu were having the time of their life. Usually they were bored out of their minds from sitting for hours at a stretch. But thankfully for them, at least this time they were having fun watching at the foreign chicks. This time it was groups from sand entering the village; so far fifteen of them had entered, Izumo was just about to close the gate when he saw them. Four sand shinobi walking calmly a teen aged blonde girl with four pig tails and one large fan flanked the left, a weird looking boy with makeup and a bundle on his back flanked the right but what really caught the eye was the one striding in the middle. The boy was young, if Izumo were to guess he would say the boy looked below thirteen, with flaming red hair covering his head and a red kanji of 'LOVE' near his left temple the boy radiated power.

Standing behind the group was one who could fight on par with any of the jounin Konoha had to offer. A veil covering the half of his face, Baki moved forward crossing the gate. Izumo and Kotetsu were flabbergasted to say any damn thing. The only thought that crossed the mind of the two chunins were, 'holy shit'. After all not every day you see the family of kazekage come to leaf to participate in the chunin exams.

**To be continued**….


	10. Chapter 10

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_ I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental_

TRAINING CONTINUES

CHUNIN EXAM ARC- DAYS TILL EXAM: SIX

Sasuke ducked under the rapid barrage of kicks and punches flying towards him, the sharingan in his eyes swirling rapidly; this was only the second day of his training and he was tired to bone. The training was more brutal than all that he ever experienced. Kakashi was driving him to the brink, his body was already badly bruised, sure sharingan could read the movements and thus predict what will happen but that is useless if you are too slow to react to the prediction.

As another high kick connected with his chest Sasuke was lifted of the surface before slamming down hard. The world seemed to blur for a moment as the pain kicked in. Coughing a bit of blood from his mouth the raven haired teen stood up once more, but as soon as he activated his sharingan again the world seemed explode in color, and all he could see was a rapidly coming punch from the left side too fast for him to dodge. Putting both of his forearms on the line of the punch Sasuke blocked the shot but still was pushed back a bit. He was panting badly now, his arms felt like lead while his body seemed too heavy to carry.

The condition of his student didn't elude Kakashi's eye, he knew anymore taijutsu training would be useless unless Sasuke is rested. "Enough taijutsu training for now," he ordered, before continuing, "you have improved quite a bit especially your reaction speed has but the power behind your attacks are lacking as is the speed." Sasuke crunched his teeth in frustration as the masked jounin continued to point out his mistakes. "but all of them can be remedied and once they are remedied you will be stronger and an all rounded ninja" Kakashi said, his keen eye had picked up the signs of frustration Sasuke was emitting, he knew that the boy had sensed the power in Roshi and longed to have it. 'Don't lust for power Sasuke, don't make the same mistake your ancestor did, people say your clan is cursed with the lust for power prove them wrong' Kakashi thought solemnly, he couldn't on good conscience tell this to Sasuke after all it was his life to live. Quickly deciding to switch the subject Kakashi focused on the aspect of sharingan that bought him his reputation

"Now Sasuke time to learn one of the most important functions of sharingan, copying opponents jutsus, while you must remember this ability doesn't extend up to the blood line jutsus but it doesn't mean with enough practice you can't master three or probably four elements. Something that even Itachi never managed to do." Kakashi said the last sentence simply as bait and to his satisfaction Sasuke took it. The boy stood up one more activating his eyes one tomoe in one eye and two in the other, the eyes had a lot of rooms to improve and Sasuke was determined to achieve it.

Kakashi decided to begin with a c-ranked fire jutsu, which he was sure Sasuke didn't know but could pick up easily. His hands blurred as he made the four required hand seals, 'tiger, ox, rabbit, and tiger' before putting his left hand on the ground, "fire style: ring of fire". Sasuke managed to see the first two hand seals but the last two evaded him and as the fire spread around him creating a perfect ring with waist high fire burning.

"Let me have One more try, sensei" he yelled as the fire jutsu cancelled and Kakashi came to view. Kakashi once again build up the chakra and started the hand seals. Sasuke was waiting for the moment to Kakashi start gathering his chakra, as soon as the process began he pumped chakra to his already active sharingan, and gradually the hands seemed to slow down for him. 'Tiger, ox, rabbit and finally tiger again, Ok I got it' Sasuke thought before he made the hand seals as well. Gathering the chakra in the palm of his hand as Kakashi did Sasuke slammed it on the earth before calling out, "fire style: ring of fire".

Kakashi clapped in approval as the fire circled him capturing him in a ring of fire. "You have managed to copy a c- ranked jutsu just in second try not bad at all." He said approvingly "but can you copy a jutsu from another element." Sasuke had no time to react as he saw once more chakra gather around his sensei this time both of his hands and he had to pump for chakra in his eyes as his sensei made two hand seals, 'snake and the seal of confrontation' in rapid succession as the hands got encased in rock.

"This is earth release: rock fist technique." Kakashi explained the jutsu to his student, "if you can successfully use it in your taijutsu, it will give heavy damage to opponents. Now your turn, make me proud." Sasuke was feeling a bit nervous after all earth was not his element but as he heard his sensei speak the same words as his father once did a raw confidence spread through his veins. He pumped chakra to his fist and quickly made the required hand seals before calling out the jutsu. A thin layer of rock encased his fists before shattering; he tried again only to have the same result. "Fuck" Sasuke cursed out loud as his tenth attempt also ended in vain. He had been so close but in the end he only let Kakashi down just like he let down his parents all those years ago.

"That was a decent try but however it seems earth chakra is not your strong forte." Kakashi said thoughtfully, "maybe you should try this." He made no hand seal this time just projected his chakra out wards and slowly a humming noise was heard and a ball of lightning formed on the palm of his hand. Sasuke's sharingan was already in over drive analyzing the chakra manipulation. He held out his hand pumping chakra at the same time manipulating it to resemble the ball he had seen by his sharingan. And he failed once, twice until the third time a ball of lightning formed on the palm.

'Lightning element huh! Finally someone to pass my heritage to' Kakashi thought enthusiastically, lightning was one of the rarest element in leaf only the Hatake family and his late sensei could use it to such an extent. For more than a decade he was the last one left but finally he had someone to pass his baton on.

WITH NARUTO

Naruto stood opposite Roshi, his body once more covered in Kyuubi's shroud. "Brat, you waste too much time in calling upon nine tail's chakra, while that shall do fine against rookie jounins experienced ones will kill you about a dozen times in that space. But we currently don't have time to continue that exercise, if I am not wrong then the next thing I am going to show you will eat up the remaining days." Roshi commented critically eying the now shrouded Naruto who gave a feral grin in response. Popping the joints of his body Roshi quickly summoned his own chakra shroud.

Naruto watched in amazement as several chakra arms shot from the shroud that covered his sensei. The arms could extend up to a great length and the number was quite high as well, but best part was perhaps the speed they could move in appearing nothing more than blur as Roshi demonstrated the various things these arms allowed him to do. "Awesome, you mean to tell me that I can do it as well." Naruto was already jumping on the balls of his feet; his chakra shroud had receded back to the seal. "Yes! I know that you can, using chakra arms is a move that every jinchuriki can do." Roshi's vocal tone was now a bit distorted as if two voices were speaking at once. He dispelled the chakra and sat down again.

"While every jinchuriki can use chakra arms, the process is not simple, and it will take time to reach a point where you can summon so many and yet fight flawlessly. The chakra arms must be controlled consciously otherwise they will just become hindrance." He explained while Naruto listened attentively, he was still impulsive at times but unlike some months ago he could also stay calm for a prolonged amount of time as well. Once Roshi signaled for Naruto to begin, the boy closed his eyes, consciously trying to draw the chakra sealed within him. One or two minutes later the familiar feeling of burning chakra covering his flesh returned. "Ok I am ready, now what?" he asked excitement bubbling inside him. "Imagine the chakra form a claw and then push it out. The more you concentrate the faster you will gain hang of this." Roshi said offhandedly.

"All right sensei" Naruto called out before he tried to visualize the claw that Roshi had summoned earlier. But the chakra seemed to rebel against his commands. First time he created nothing, simply the cloak consumed too much for Naruto to handle any longer. "Not enough concentration, try again after a short brake." Roshi said from his position. And a burning orange shroud covered his student once more this time much faster than before

**Time skip five days, midnight before the chunin exams**

A dim light bulb was the only thing preventing the total darkness in a small rundown apartment of konoha. This apartment located just across the hokage monument belonged to none other than Naruto Uzumaki. It had been six days of his training with the four tailed jinchuriki and these six days brought about massive change in him. He had learned more about the nine tailed fox and now seriously he had to rethink the concept of monsters.

'I never would have imagined my life would turn this way, the lonely orphan to the protector of leaf. Life really is a strange thing.' He thought gazing at the array of stars blinking in distance when he was younger he would believe his parents were up there but now he knew better death didn't make people change into stars, death only brought pain.

'**BOY YOU DON'T HONESTLY BELIEVE IT, DO YOU? YOU ARE A WEAPON FOR YOUR VILLAGE, THAT'S ALL THERE IS, YOU ARE A MEAN TO HARBOR MY POWER JUST AS THE OTHERS ARE AS THEY HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS, EVEN THAT MONKEY WHO TAUGHT ALL THE PHILOSOPHY HAS SLAUGHTERED COUNTLESS PEOPLE IN THE BIDDING OF ITS JAILOR'S VILLAGE.' **The mighty nine tailed beast cut in to his train of thoughts. "Shut up fur ball" Naruto growled, "we have been through this, what happened in the past is different, I am not a weapon. I have friends; I have people who care about me."

"**BOY DON'T SHOW FAKE BRAVADO TO ME, I HAVE KNOWN YOU LONGER THAN EVERY ONE ELSE. YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS, THERE IS NO ONE WHO KNOWS THE REAL HIDE BEHIND A MASK AND TRY TO LOVE THEM BUT INSIDE YOU HATE THEM JUST AS MUCH I DO, NOW YOU SEE WHY THIS WORLD MUST BURN?"**

**"**You are lying," Naruto all but shouted, "I have friends. Ino, Sasuke, Kakashi sensei and old man hokage all of them care about me. Teuchi and Ayame are like my family hell Iruka sensei called me his brother. AND I CARE FOR THEM AS WELL." His frustration was growing; while he wore a mask of happiness to the outside it didn't mean he didn't have issues in fact may be he had more than a common people. 'Stupid fox always ruining the mood' Naruto cursed in his mind, but he lacked the venom for deep in his heart he knew he would have become like that as well if the sole reason of his existence would have been to serve others in war.

"Someday I will release you from the dark hatred in your heart, this is a promise nine tails and Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on his promises." Naruto said out loud his frustration slowly evaporating away. But he was restless and was feeling a feeling a terrible urge to visit the hokage monument.

In the dark and damped sewer a large eye opened as the promise reached his ears. In all his life only two people had earned his respect, the blonde immature boy was the second one. He didn't expect the boy to succeed, the world was dark enough to extinguish even the brightest of light, but the important point was after millenniums someone wanted to restore his faith.

**PAGE BREAK**

Ino had trouble sleeping, she was sore from the tough exercise her dad made her do earlier and yet sleep was eluding her. Thoughts jumbled her mind, some good while some simply horrific, sighing she sat up on the bed. The moon light was flooding her room painting everything silver, but her mind was too busy to think about the view. Memories flooded down as she remembered her childhood though she was barely a teen the bloodshed had toughened her, it burned away her innocence and golden dreams until a dark reality replaced them. Now her squabble with Sakura seemed childish her dieting her fairly tale dreams it all seemed childish every time she closed her eyes she would remember the scene on the bridge the bloodied body of Zabuza and his partner. She wanted to hate them but Kakashi told her not to, he told her this world has only two colors one is gray and another is dark red the color of blood.

Tomorrow she would have to enter the chunin exams and she felt scared. Whether she would admit it or not, she knew deep down that she was the weak link of their team. The romantic in her still hoped that Sasuke would feel attracted to her but that hope was dying every day. For one thing she was certain about her crush that Sasuke will never be attracted to someone weak.

Having nothing to do, she wrapped the night cloak about her before leaving her room. Careful enough not to disturb her parents, Ino opened the door before exiting her building to visit the garden she had built by herself. But her goal was disrupted as her gaze fall on the lone figure sitting on the top yondaime's head. 'Naruto, so you can't sleep either' she thought before moving towards the mountain. While she had fully planned to chat with her whiskered friend, she had to stop herself as she saw Naruto sitting there. Unlike many she had seen various shades of the lonely boy, she had seen him vulnerable, angry or simply his true smile but never before had she seen so peaceful. 'The moon light makes him look so mature and cute' the thought came unbidden to her mind causing her to blush lightly. She stood there for a while simply watching her friend before turning back to her home.

**Early morning next day**

The first light of morning woke Naruto from the peaceful dream he was having. He had fallen asleep on the Hokage Mountain but it wasn't a first time for him. He groaned loudly as he stretched, his tired muscles protesting against the task. 'One benefit from having the fur ball, my muscles will be back to normal in no time.' He thought even as he dashed for his apartment.

It was after two and half hours a fully refreshed and energized Naruto stood in front of the grave of his beloved teacher. "Hey Iruka sensei guess what, I am taking the chunin exams. You bet I shall crack them in the first try, and then one more step closer to that fancy hat." He announced brightly before his mood grew somber, "I miss you Iruka sensei, I miss you really very much. My life had been good these days and I am friends with the brooding bastard. Who would have thought? But still you know, maybe I was wrong about him, losing you had taught me so much and now I think maybe in his shoes I wouldn't have been so different. I bet you are happy now watching me all matured and grown up huh! It sure feels good but still I wish you were here to watch me grow, I have never known my parents but I wish they were like you big brother, I got to go now but I will come again."

As he walked away from the grave a spiky mane of white hair caught his eye but he passed on without glancing back at the tall man with waist length hair and a red vest standing in front of the least visited grave. By the time Naruto reached the academy, his team mates were already there waiting. Both of them were looking determined. 'Well looks like all three of us are fired up for the exam, Chunin rank here we come.' Naruto thought with an amused grin. "Stop grinning like an idiot and let's go." Sasuke kept his voice composed but a bit of excitement only made Naruto grin wider.

Together they entered the building, the form clenched in their fist. They had only reached the second floor when a large crowd caught Ino's eye. "Why is a crowd forming there? The form says to go to room 301 and this is second floor." She asked Sasuke who had taken the mantle of leadership for the time.

Naruto had already taken a step forward when Sasuke's hand clasped tightly on his shoulder, "whatever you do, don't draw unnecessary attention to our team." Naruto grinned as he stepped forward clearing a bit of crowd before facing a door with the number 301 plastered on it. "What the… how is this even possible?" he asked bewildered, he clearly remembered being in the second floor so no way he could have missed an entire floor.

Then his eyes fell on perhaps the oddest looking boy he had seen with the absolute worst dress sense ever. With the oddest bowl cut and huge eye brows the green spandex wearing boy was simply too taxing for his sensory organs. However his distaste soon transferred into pure fury as he saw two older boys in leaf insignia literally throw the boy back. Even without realizing Naruto took a forward step placing himself between the downed boy and the two bullies, "what the fuck you think you are doing?" he screamed at the two. But the older boys simply flashed their teeth before one of them bent down to poke on Naruto's forehead every word was followed by a poke, "I (poke) am (poke) doing (poke) you (poke) a (poke) bloody favor (poke). So I think you should…gumph." However unfortunately for the boy his little speech got cut off as a fist lodged itself in his belly with considerable force behind it, the boy stumbled backwards before crouching down on his knees, the punch successfully knocked his wind out.

Naruto's jaw was tightly clenched, he hated being looked down upon it was the sole reason he wanted to be hokage once. Although his reason changed long ago, his mentality about this fact didn't and the evidence lodged itself in the older boy's stomach. He had already noticed the incoming punch the older boy's friend sent at him, his right leg had also went up for a snap kick but surprising him another arm clenched around his leg freezing it in the mid air, the same occurred with the older boy's punch. The bushy browed boy was on his feet and in a blink of an eye has managed to come between Naruto and the bully stalling both attacks at the same time. 'Damn, the boy isn't someone to be messed with; I didn't even see him moving.' Naruto thought before he brought his feet down leaving the centre area to meet up with his irate team mates.

Before Naruto even managed to open his mouth a fist bonked him on the head lightly. "Idiot, Sasuke Kun told you to not reveal your ability and there you go jump in a fight." Ino scolded the blonde boy while Sasuke's eyes were locked on to a single object. "Let's go to the correct room, this one is fake, hidden under a genjutsu." he said without even taking his eyes off the green wearing boy, 'so this is the team of a Hyuuga no wonder they are strong, the girl looks weak but I doubt it.'

Team seven had just reached the third floor when a loud boisterous voice from behind interrupted them. Turning back they came face to face with the spandex wearing boy but this time he had his team with it. To Naruto's amusement all of them looked odd, the girl had twin buns on her head making her look like a panda and then the other boy had longer hair than both Ino and Sakura. Forcefully stifling the snicker that was threatening to break out Naruto calmed his features before he focused on the boy who stopped them. "I here challenge you Uchiha, I will prove that my hard work can beat your talent." The boy said with fiery passion in his voice and Naruto caught in his thoughts had missed the first of the challenge. Feeling a bit confused he quickly stood between the two, "hold on a moment folks what just happened here?"

"Rock lee challenged Sasuke kun" Ino replied pointing at the bushy browed boy, she was also freaked out by the sheer size of that brow.

Before Naruto could say any other thing Sasuke strode forward shoving him aside. "I accept the challenge." He announced, his common sense told him this was a bad idea the boy was strong but his Uchiha pride didn't allow him to back off a challenge.

Both combatants dropped into their stances, Sasuke had his sharingan activated. 'His stance favors heavy movement from the leg, so attacks will be mainly in form of kicks' Sasuke analyzed Rock lee's stance critically. He had already seen the agility the boy possessed and combined with the stance, he became a very strong competitor. Rock lee attacked first with a high kick with his left leg, Sasuke had predicted the movement but he had no time to duck, he hastily put his forearm in the way blocking the shot. Mentally wincing at the impact, Sasuke sent a quick jab at the boy who readily blocked and retaliated with a strong kick to chest. Sasuke was pushed a few steps back from that kick and his attention distracted for a moment. This proved to be a very costly mistake as rapid kicks barraged him faster than he had expected, even though his eye managed to predict most of the attacks his speed was too slow compared to the attacks.

'He is too strong for me to beat in straight taijutsu, let's see how he handles a genjutsu.' Sasuke thought while his hands slipped into a seal and his chakra focusing in his sharingan, 'now it's the waiting game.' For a few seconds Sasuke tried to block lee's attack until he caught his opponent's eye. A moment was all that it took as the foreign chakra influenced Lee's brain. Sasuke grinned as the next kick missed him by a mile, his grin widened as his punch hit his mark and the boy crumpled down. But before Sasuke could deliver any more attacks a large turtle popped out startling him.

Naruto had to slap his cheek a few times just to accept what he was seeing, a turtle that big and another person just like Rock lee appearing out of nowhere freaked him out. Thankfully Sasuke had the presence of mind to usher his team away, having spotted Kakashi standing in front of the room 301. "I am here to wish you best of luck guys, remember very few manage to get promoted in the first try so it doesn't matter if you fail and work as a team that will save you where others will fail" Kakashi spoke without even bothering to look away from his book but his voice belied his disinterested look. "Heh, we will do it in the first try, believe it sensei" Naruto announced speaking for all three of them. Kakashi's eye turned into a u shape as he ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately, "make me proud team."

Naruto's mouth fell open as he saw the large auditorium like room filled to brim with people; he couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling that suddenly festered in his body. "We are the youngest here." Ino commented her voice trembling slightly, eyes searching to spot her friends. "Yes, usually jounin senseis don't allow genin to take the test without at least a year worth experience; you could say we are the unlucky bunch." A new voice drawled lazily from the sides. "You mean the lucky bunch don't you Shika?" Naruto asked happy to spot Naara Shikamaru and his team. "That actually is a matter of opinions. This exam is very dangerous, previously contestants have died during the exam, so logic state there is a very good probability of us not making out of it unscathed." Spoke the boy standing beside Shikamaru his eyes covered by sunglass and wearing a large hooded overcoat; he was Shino Aburame heir of the clan Aburame.

"You didn't change a bit Shino, still creepy as ever and you too Chouji." Naruto commented cheerfully, while the other boy nodded still munching on from his chips. His nervousness faded as he interacted with his friends. Before long he heard one more voice he was familiar with, as usual Sakura launched herself at Sasuke only to be rebuffed by Ino. "Hello, Sakura chan how are you?" Naruto called out cheerfully only to be neglected, while he didn't really react outwardly he was tired of being brushed outside in favor of Sasuke. 'I wish Haku chan was here' he thought forlornly, while not like Iruka he did miss Haku very much and Sakura's behavior only enhanced his loneliness. He greeted both Kiba and Hinata normally. Traded insults with Kiba while the girl blushed red. But the impromptu reunion was brought to halt when a silver haired older boy with leaf insignia approached them. "You guys better tone the noise down, being first timers you guys are already targets for older teams." The boy said pushing his glasses a bit higher, "this exam is not a picnic so treat it with seriousness."

Naruto frowned as the silver haired boy delivered his warning, he didn't really like the boy warning them when he was in the competition as well. "Thanks for your advice but who are you?" Sasuke questioned for all nine of the rookies. The boy chuckled as he saw the suspicious glares sent his way, "easy there kids, we are on the same side my name is Kabuto and I thought I should help you guys out seeing as it's your first time on the exam." His easy going attitude had pleased all of the rookies and also attracted the attention of Rock lee and his team. As the older team moved closer the second male on the team shot a venomous glare at the shy Hyuuga heiress and Hinata quickly back pedaled a feat that caught Naruto's eye. However before he could open his mouth the male Hyuuga faced Kabuto. "You offer help but how do you propose to do it?" the hyuuga's voice was calm but Naruto didn't fail to notice the underlying confidence and power in it, this boy was strong and he knew it.

Kabuto had predicted the question so he grinned widely before pulling out a number of cards from his pocket before showing them proudly. "A just question as expected of the genius of Hyuuga clan won't you agree Neji Hyuuga. These cards have all the available information about the participants tell me their names or point them at me I will tell you what I have about them." He announced rather smugly.

'Information so that was what the help was. Can be very helpful indeed if I manage to garner information about the right opponent, I don't need info on the competitors from my village and I don't know any foreign shinobi well let just have a look around' Naruto thought before critically scouting the foreign competitors almost all of them were older than him and held themselves with confidence but nothing he felt bothered about after facing Haku in battle until his eyes locked on with a pair of green eyes. Naruto had to take a step back just from the sheer hostility present in those eyes, a boy no taller than he with flaming red hair and a strange looking jug on his back, a tattoo of kanji love on his left temple. "Who is that boy?"Naruto stammered still unsettled from the look.

Kabuto hid an inward smirk as the blonde boy picked the one he knew he would pick, "that is Gaara of the desert, he is the youngest son of yondaime Kazekage. Well to put it bluntly his mission record is fucking unbelievable here see it yourself." He said before giving one card that presently held information about the boy, "seven b-ranked and two a- ranked but never even scratched how is that even possible?" Ino asked the question that had been plaguing all the rookie genins present. Well everyone except Naruto, his eyes were still locked into Gaara's eyes as he saw scenes of total carnage flash through his mind. '**SNAP OUT OF IT FLESHLING, THAT KID IS THE VESSEL OF ICHIBI AND I BELIEVE HE HAS FALLEN PREY TO THE POWER OF ONE TAILS JUST LIKE YOU WILL FALL ONE DAY.' **A booming voice echoed in his mind freeing him from the shock induced trance he was in. but even then he failed to pay attention as others checked information about others, he was stunned at the contrast between himself and another vessel of his age, 'is this what I could have become a vessel of hostile wills but Roshi sensei is nothing like this, he seems to be in control.'

Naruto was broken out of his train of thoughts as he saw one of the sound shinobi rushing at Kabuto with his fist cocked, Kabuto by all appearances seemed to dodge the attack but somehow he was knocked back his glasses fell on the ground while he vomited. "That should teach you bloody tree hugger we sound shinobi are worth ten of you." The mummy styled boy who attacked boasted proudly, "my name is Dosu Kinuta remember my words Konoha shinobis."

Kiba was the first one of the rookies to lash out, "you mummified bastard, I don't care what you think of your selves but I swear I will pay you for the insult." The matter seemed to be escalating until a loud gruff voice interrupted the brawl. "Anymore fighting will result in immediate disqualification so if any of you shrimps wants to fight it out be my guest. But if you want to pass then sit on the benches and wait for further instruction." The tall man in long over coat who seemed to be the examiner barked out loud.

Naruto had met many strong ninja in his relatively short career but this examiner dude had a scary aura far worse than them. He silently gulped before he took his seat near the middle of the class. Once the class had all settled down some chunins entered the class carrying a lot of what seemed to be the exam sheets and started distributing them among the genins. Naruto was already banging his head on the table when the examiner handed him a sheet with questions, despite all his training he had totally ignored the bookish part of being a shinobi and he really hoped the questions will be easy. But one look at the paper and his hopes were tossed out of the window straight in to the dustbin.

The scarred head examiner guy looked around the panic was starting to buildup in the chunin hopefuls and he enjoyed the feeling of helplessness present in them. He savored the feelings for a moment more then he cleared his throat, "listen to the rules carefully maggots I will not repeat them again. Every student starts with ten points the paper in your hand has nine questions for every wrong answer you will lose a point a piece, if any of you are caught cheating then three points will be deducted and any person caught three times a row will be disqualified along with his team. You will be given the tenth question ten minutes before the finishing time, you have one hour, so use it and your time starts now." Morino Ibiki head of Konoha's torture and interrogation department relished in the nervousness of his victims, one of leaf's greatest psychology experts of all time Ibiki turned the minds of his victims against them and slowly breaking them apart, being the proctor of the first examination for chunin exams he could not help but smirk as he saw the frantic attempts of cheating breaking around the room. Even before first ten minutes passed three teams had been disqualified, true if Ibiki wanted he could have disqualified them all but that never were the target.

Naruto tried to concentrate on the paper but his efforts were futile, he had no damn idea how to calculate the range of a kunai thrown from the ground level in ten degree angle which in turn collides with a kunai thrown from the opposite side with 60 km per hour velocity in twelve degree angle from the ground. The following questions were all same; he had no idea about dampening effect that a three pointed seal will cause on a four pointed one. Hell he wasn't even aware of the terms used; only option was to cheat but if caught thrice then his entire team would be disqualified and that he couldn't risk. 'I have to do the tenth answer correctly only then I can pass' he thought with a sigh. Minutes passed in a blur as more and more teams were disqualified. He knew perhaps he was the worst possible candidate for an exam like this but his sheer stubbornness didn't allow him to break down, he even rejected the help Hinata wanted to give after all it wouldn't be too good for her to be disqualified because of his incompetence.

Ibiki grinned as the crowd thinned out and more and more competitors were thrown out, he could see all of them cheating some with bloodlines and some with really creative styles but he kept silent and enjoyed the show cause in the end these won't even matter. The alarm sounded beside him to let him know his time for the main course has come. "All right you little snots time for the last question, for this we have a special rule in play; you can choose whether you wish to take the question or not. However if you back off then you and your team will be disqualified and if you take it and then answer wrongly then you can't take chunin exams ever again." He spoke loudly while mentally counting the seconds for the incredulous cries to break out. "You cannot do it many have taken the exams more than once" some genin shouted from the back while the others also agreed. Grinning inwardly Ibiki let loose a bit of killer intent quickly stifling the cries of protestations, "I don't care what you brats may think but in this exam my words are law and if you want to challenge them then by all means proceed who am I to care?"

Naruto couldn't really trust his ears without taking the question he will cause his team to fail but he answered wrongly then he would doom his team. 'I don't get it even after all these training, I fail like a loser. I am still being the dead last from the academy.' His thoughts surged out drowning his comprehension as one by one the teams left the room unable to risk their career. The defeated look in their eyes triggered something deep in his heart a flame so bright that could rival a sun. He knew every second that passes the decision will only be tougher for him and his team. When situations push a man to the brink of breaking down he becomes capable of things thought to be unbelievable and that was same thing that happened to the young Uzumaki.

Arms clenched tightly into fist Naruto slammed it down on the desk in front of him cracking it, "I don't care if I can't take the exams anymore; I will become hokage straight from genin and write it down scar face Uzumaki Naruto never backs down." He roared, his passion burning in his voice, immediately cleansing the remaining genins of their fear.

Ibiki cursed silently in his mind as a single boy destroyed the game he had set up carefully, "very well Uzumaki Naruto, those who remain pass this test." He finally said, while thinking inward 'I will watch over you Naruto Uzumaki, the strangest jinchuriki ever.'

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: HI GUYS MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. WITH THIS CHAPTER MY CHUNIN ARC BEGIN BUT I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS WHICH I NEED THE ANSWERS FROM YOU GUYS. 1. WOULD YOU GUYS PREFER A FIGHT BETWEEN ROSHI AND KIMIMARO OR GAI AND KAKASHI VS. KIMIMARO?_

_2. FIGHT BETWEEN SANDAIME AND OROCHIMARU AS IN THE CANNON OR FIGHT BETWEEN JIRIAYA AND OROCHIMARU WHILE SANDAIME DEALS WITH THE EDO TENSAI._

_ NOW ONTO THE RESULT OF THE POLL ABOUT SECOND ELEMENT THIS POLL IS STILL OPEN AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL THE END OF THE FIRST PART_

_WATER: 1+1+1+1+1+1+1=7_

_EARTH: 1+1+1+1+1=5_

_LIGHTNING: 1+1+1=3_

_FIRE: 0_

_STILL RFDN,THE OFFSPRING FF HAVE BOTH GIVEN VERY GOOD LOGIC FOR CHOOSING EARTH WHILE LORD ORION SALAZAR AND RED HAVE GIVEN GOOD LOGIC TO CHOOSE WATER SO ITS STILL A TIE BETWEEN THESE TWO PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WANT AND ANY THING YOU THINK OF MY STORY BE IT GOOD OR BAD. SO READ AND REVIEW, MY THANKS TO EVERY ONE WHO HAS TAKEN TIME TO REVIEW OR FAVORITE OR FOLLOW._

_NOW ON DIFFERENT ISSUE I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY MOKUTON IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO CONTROL JUUBI AND HOW JUUBI CAN USE MOKUTON._

_THIS IS MY THEORY FOR IT: SHARINGAN IS ULTIMATE FORM OF SPIRITUAL POWER AS KISHIMOTO HAVE SHOWN US THEN IS MOKUTON THE ULTIMATE FORM OF PHYSICAL CHAKRA IF THAT SO THEN WHY IS EARTH AND WATER NEEDED. AND IF MOKUTON SUPPRESSES A TAILED BEAST'S CHAKRA THEN WHY DID THE ZETSU CLONES REACT LIKE THAT TO A KYUUBI MODE NARUTO. IT IS BECOMING MORE CONFUSING AS MORE CHAPTERS COME OUT ANYWAY I LOVED THE WAY NEJI FELL IT WAS A HERO'S DEATH. RIP NEJI HYUUGA._


	11. Chapter 11

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental frankly I have no idea why I am not getting reviews maybe my writing was not good enough to warrant any but a request please spend a minute of your time and review, your opinion matters to me._

Deadly dance in the forest of death

The statement from Ibiki met with deafening silence, before the room exploded in shouts again. "Silence" Ibiki roared his words echoing around the room as the genins fell silent at once, "in the field of duty intelligence will determine your probability to succeed and those who can't acquire intelligence effectively or can't keep it from the enemy suffers a fate like this." His hands grasped the bandana bound around his head slowly began unwinding it to reveal terrible scars, screw holes, deep wounds and lacerations.

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes the wounds that covered the proctor's head was worse than anything he could imagine, unbidden the words of Kakashi came to mind, '_the world of shinobi is created by blood; all of us have our hand stained with it. Like it or not in the end all of us are weapons created only destroy' _he had failed to grasp the true the weight in Kakashi's words last time but now they hit him like sledge hammer. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts Naruto concentrated on the man's words, "however the most important trait a chunin must have is the courage and will to face the unknown, which was the trait we checked with the last question that was the only reason we didn't oust you brats when you tried to cheat badly."

Ibiki paused as he saw his words settling down deep within the souls of the genins, that was his goal after all. He opened his mouth to speak some more but closed at once as he recognized the rapidly drawing feeling of familiar chakra. "Crazy snake bitch" he cursed under his breath as he stepped aside just as a sound of breaking glasses was heard a purple haired beautiful lady in a brown jacket and mesh shirt stood just where he stood seconds ago and fire crackers exploded behind him. "Anko, you are early…again" He deadpanned. A feral and manic grin was all he got in response. The kunoichi swept her violet eyes over the remaining teams, "tsk... tsk you have been getting soft Ibiki twenty six teams that's awfully bad for someone with your reputation wouldn't you agree."

"Maybe they are better than you feel them to be." Ibiki responded calmly, already familiar with his subordinate's behavior he could see her interested look reflected in the eyes.

Anko paused for a moment this time scanning the teams with much slower speed, "it doesn't matter by the end of my task at least half of them would be out and now you maggots meet me at training ground forty four you have half an hour." She spoke finally and vanished with a body flicker leaving a number of genins sit dumb founded, Neji was the first one to recover as he and his team swiftly moved to the broken window and jumped down. Ibiki watched the team with mild amusement before addressing the other genins, "the time has started you know" and with a puff of smoke he also left the vicinity.

**HALF AN HOUR LATER**

"Holy fuck the gates are huge what is behind that thing." Naruto all but yelled as he with his team stood in front of the large Iron Gate marking the entrance of the training ground 44. All around them the same kind of expression were seen as the genins were apprehensive of the fate that awaited them there. "So you brats managed to come here by the time limit eh, so you are not all useless after all. Welcome to the training ground 44 or as the general name goes the forest of death, my personal living quarter." Anko's voice sounded cheery as she moved into view twirling a kunai in her fingers, her tongue flicked out licking the steel edge.

Despite of himself Naruto could not help but feel she was hot; there was something in her wildness that attracted him. He tried to focus but a hot breath on his neck disturbed him as a tongue flicked out and licked his cheek. "Tasty" Anko commented as she held kunai at his throat, "in the forest you will face death so be better aware." She once again appeared in front of the gate, this time her mood serious, "unlike the first exam people may and probably will die in this phase so any of you who would like to duck this is your last chance." No one left making the purple haired beauty grin wider, "all of you will be have a scroll either earth or heaven but in order to pass one team must have a complete set of both types. You have seven days to do the task….. And one more thing a team must have complete three members to proceed." She said

Naruto was processing the information, in other words the proctor just told that kid gloves were off and they would have to fight for their lives. "Try to keep the relatively weaker looking ones in close watch we shall move in on them first, if we manage to get another scroll within the first two days we will have greater possibility to avoid unnecessary combat." Sasuke whispered his mind reeling to make an adequate strategy to keep all of them alive. Naruto nodded in response when he saw Ino's knuckles turning white, he silently moved closer to his first true friend of his own age group, "don't worry Ino chan we have dealt with worse than them and I will never let you any of my precious peoples get hurt again."

Ino could not help but blush a little at the sincerity of her friend's voice, despite becoming closer to Naruto she couldn't really understand the depth of the blonde's character but his words gave her a sense of protection. She could realize why Hinata was so hung on the boy but she doubted that the shy girl knew so much of her crush. However she was harshly ripped from her musings as Sasuke nudged her side pointing towards a group of shinobi with weird face mask. The message was clear, and Ino quickly made the required hand seals and waited until one of the targets made the mistake to make eye contact and the tallest boy made the mistake.

Sasuke watched in satisfaction as Ino gave him the thumbs up they had already marked one group for the taking, he continued to look around to find more groups he knew the skills his blonde team mate possessed with shadow clones and had a plan to utilize that. However as he looked around he found his eyes locked with a rather tall girl with hidden waterfall insignia, the eyes were strange it was silted like a snake's and with a deep hunger that chilled his very soul. Sasuke was sure of one thing he was not going anywhere close to the girl. His ears picked as the proctor ordered one member of each team to come forward and take the scroll. "Dobe you go I will stay here." He whispered, 'a battle is fought with both mind and body, I remember dad and I will make you proud' he knew most of the teams send their de facto leader to take the scroll and by sending Naruto he was simply misleading the competition.

Naruto took the heaven scroll that the chunin handed over to him, he didn't know why Sasuke sent him to take the scroll but he didn't bother with the matter. He simply wanted to be ready for every damn probability , he knew he wasn't weak by any means if any with the added boost that the Kyuubi's chakra provided him he was reasonably stronger than everyone else at least except that vessel of one tails. Still there was a strange feeling in his gut that he didn't like.

Anko watched as the teams received their scrolls, she could almost sense their nervousness and it excited her, she loved it. She was about to speak when she felt a sharp pricking on her neck from the place she had been branded years ago. 'Orochimaru, so you finally dared to come back and I promise you son of a bitch this time you are not going out alive.' Vengeance was still one reason she felt compelled to live for, everything else came second. Masterfully hiding her glee Anko focused on the task ahead, "once you manage to capture both the scrolls head for the large tower in middle of the forest, before that if you open the scroll you will be disqualified at once go ahead and good luck. One final advice don't die now go." She yelled as the gate swung open and the genins rushed inside.

**PAGE BREAK**

"How much longer do we have to move along?" Naruto grumbled for the millionth time, he didn't understand why they were just running through the trees. It had been over an hour they had entered the forest and so far they had just ran atop the trees and now he was running thin on patience. "Will you please shut up asshole, I do have a plan." Sasuke hissed angrily while the third member of their team suddenly paused upon the branch she hopped onto. "The hidden rain team is coming closer; the team is around five hundred meter left. But I don't know where the scroll is and I can't maintain the link any longer." Ino breathed out, she was already panting the stress of maintaining a hidden link as well as running was getting to her.

Sasuke digested the information while stopping the run and signaling Naruto to do the same. "Naruto, we need a decoy now." He ordered, his mind already reeling with the plan of ambush. "Got it" the answer came from the blonde who quickly created three shadow clones and disguised them as team seven. The doppelgangers dropped down on ground and pretended to rest while the originals took positions.

The clone disguised as Ino was about to sit down when a senbon flew out of the foliage missing the body just by the breadth of a hair. Quickly jumping up the clone sent a volley shuriken into the out growth while the other two also took position by her kunai in hand. From the bushes three genins about fourteen years old rushed out with kunai in hand quickly engaging the leaf ninjas in melee combat, the girl took on Sasuke lookalike while the tallest one that Ino had mentally intruded earlier went for Naruto while the last one started to fire rapid bouts of senbon that was blocked by the shurikens Ino threw. The deadlock continued for a while until a quick kick from the Uchiha knocked the girl back infuriating her.

Up on the branches Naruto was watching the enemy genins closely he was so far disappointed by the presentation from the so called experienced genins but his eyes widened as the three rain shinobi jumped back throwing three umbrellas in the air, the umbrellas soared high and rained uncountable number of senbons on the clones dispelling them all. The momentary lapse that was created in the opponents thanks to the clones vanishing in smoke was all the leaf ninjas were looking for capitulating on the moment Naruto quickly made the required hand seals before quickly thrusting the extreme fast stream of wind while Sasuke threw two kunais. With the precision of a master marksman the kunais passed smoothly through the shoulders of two boys. No extra drops of blood no mess just clean and smooth penetration through skin bone and sinews, the boys dropped like sack of potatoes while the girl started hyperventilating as three shinobi dropped down in front of her.

"Ino, can you garner where the scroll is hidden?" Sasuke asked in a calm voice while he bound the girl's hands with ninja wire. "Give me fifteen minutes; I think I can do it." Ino replied forcefully stifling her nervousness. Naruto gave her thumbs up while he created a few clones to secure the perimeter; they had just found the scroll when a lone needle came out of the forest digging deep in Naruto's right leg. Within a gap of seconds all the clones also vanished in smoke. Naruto barely dodged the next batch of needles, his body was already feeling sluggish even breathing was slowing down, 'come on I can't die here my team needs me.' Forcing his body to react Naruto managed to take cover behind a tree. In some distance he heard Sasuke shout the name of his favorite jutsu and ball of fire with at least six meter radius flew in the direction the attack came from.

Everything was going great for Sasuke, his plan to set up the ambush had worked perfectly but suddenly out of nowhere his team came under attack and Naruto got hit. He would be damned if the needle wasn't poisoned, he could only hope the poison wasn't lethal. Quickly gathering chakra in the stomach Sasuke let out one of the larger fireballs he was capable of making, "fire style: great fireball jutsu" he muttered as the ball of fire collided with what seemed to be a barrier of wind, fire spread through the area igniting nearby bushes. "Ino check on Naruto and get to a safe distance I will follow." He ordered, his sharingan had already spotted the chakra strings and knew exactly when attack would come and from where.

He swiftly stepped aside as a katana attached to a wooden puppet slammed on the place he was just standing. Taking the opening he quickly channeled lightning chakra through the blade and cut the nearest string. However before he could do any more damage the puppet stood up and started slashing again. Sasuke cursed inward as the kunai he was parrying the slashes with failed to cut through the metal sword. Sparks flied everywhere as again and again the blades collided together neither gaining any ground, Sasuke was thankful this puppeteer wasn't as strong as the ones he had read in books but still he couldn't hold this forever and he had no idea where the other two of the squad were. But this time he was in luck as a slash of wind chakra just missed him by inches and slammed straight in to the puppet. This was the chance he needed as a kunai with explosive tag hit the puppet in the same position and he bailed out with a replacement technique in the exact same time. The puppet blew in smithereens as he appeared on the top of a tree his sharingan scanning the area for any movement of the sand ninjas.

**With Ino**

Ino was sweating she had already taken Naruto to the tree tops and so far they were safe but she could do nothing as her friend lay there motion less with a fever. 'I should have learnt more about medical ninjutsu.' She thought as she saw Naruto suffer helplessly. But her thoughts cut short as she sensed a person moving closer a foreign chakra signature as far as her senses told. Quickly rising from her position she rushed to the nearby positions for entering the area, she was not good in physical combat but she could weaken them up even before they moved in close. She set up bunches of explosive tags on the trees triggered by ninja wire and rest was in the hand of fate. However the luck was not on her side at the moment as a few large shurikens flew in easily severing the tied wires diffusing the explosive tags. Ino watched in horror as a boy with black body suit and a sand ninja headband quickly jumped on the branch above her while the shurikens flew around his head. "Hello cutie you can surrender and go peacefully or try to fight against my jinton without any hope." The boy said cockily, sure about his victory but there was one thing he didn't know Konoha shinobi don't give up even in the face of impossible.

Ino analyzed the situation, she was not sure whether she could beat the new and strange blood line user or not but first and foremost she had to take this fight away from the injured Naruto, and then plan ahead. She cancelled the chakra and dropped down narrowly dodging the incoming projectiles. 'I don't have any destructive jutsu like Naruto or Sasuke kun and if my hunch is correct throwing any weapon would only help him but he seems to be too cocky for his own good.' She thought while dancing nimbly around the flying shurikens before substituting away from that place with a log strapped with two explosive tags. The shurikens hit that log and stuck, giving her the split second window needed to activate the tag manually. "You bitch!" a yell from the upper branches told her the plan succeeded a slow grin formed on her lips. For the next few minutes she just dodged around the shurikens unlike last time the boy was not letting his weapons hit anything deep. This time Ino had to take a risk, "illusion arts false surroundings" she whispered as the d ranked genjutsu took hold. She was going to take a very big risk this was her last chance to win. Slowly bringing out the last remaining lot of explosive tags she slipped them on her palm, as the next shuriken missed her, her hand lashed out and put the tag on it all the while maintaining the genjutsu. False surrounding was a jutsu that didn't really need eye contact the chakra permeated the surrounding and simply looking at the area around makes one susceptible of this genjutsu.

Ino watched with satisfaction as the boy predictably summoned the large throwing star back, a small smirk forming on her lips as she muttered, "boom". The shuriken exploded just above the sand ninja's head throwing him far back his body singed from the burn. Ino made her favorite hand seal while she felt her consciousness flying straight for the injured victim but a rushing sound made her aware of the imminent danger she was in. Fat lot of good that did for her as all she could do was put both her hands to lessen the blow of the punch but still the punch sent her skidding back and a girl almost sixteen years old with dark yellow ochre skirt and black mesh top hugging her curves perfectly dropped before her already in her taijutsu stance. 'Oh shit' was the only thing Ino could think as another kick narrowly missed her and the more and more weapons started flying about her.

**With Sasuke**

Sasuke's sharingan eyes had managed to pick up the location of the wind user but no sign of the puppeteer. 'Where are you sand rat' he whispered as every fiber of his body tensed up to spring into action in a moment's indication. His training with Kakashi and Naruto had taught him that in the battle of ninjas only the fools rush in. 'come on attack you fucking bastard' he whispered while building chakra in his body.

He didn't have to wait much longer as a condensed ball of wind rushed at him from the left side, a small smirk formed on his lips as without forming any hand seal he let out a larger ball of fire at it. The much more powerful fire jutsu overpowered the wind attack and grew larger before exploding on a tree. This was a battle that the sand ninja could never win for a while he used balls of wind but Sasuke counted them with ease, Sasuke's sharingan picked up the chakra signature of the sand ninja getting away and he gave pursuit. He could guess where his opponent was trying to go; the river that cut through the training ground was the only place where the other person would even have a chance of lasting because otherwise he will be burned alive. Sasuke pumped more chakra to his feet as he raced to the river. He was steadily gaining on the other boy. Now he could see him even without the help of his sharingan, his hand reached into the shuriken pouch tied to his back drawing out six throwing stars at the same time he gathered fire chakra in his lungs before releasing both of them towards the retreating enemy with a shout of "**fire release: phoenix sage flower nail crimson.**" The six burning shurikens rushed straight towards the opponent giving no chance to dodge them.

**"Wind release: wind dome technique"** the brown wearing sand ninja shouted almost desperately and a screeching dome of wind came to life around him protecting him from the burning projectiles. "You can't defeat me you fucking tree hugger." He yelled even as the young Uchiha continued gaining on him, "eat this, wind release: great breakthrough" before exhaling a torrent of super fast wind that tore through the branches of the tree and slammed straight into Sasuke. The force behind the attack lifted him of his feet before slamming into the bark of the nearest tree. Without uttering any words Sasuke stood up once more his tongue could taste the coppery feeling of blood and it infuriated him, he wouldn't let some sand genin beat him, he was not weak. His hand blurred as he rapidly went through the hand seals, **"lightning release: running beast technique"** the shout unnerved the already out of steam sand ninja as a large beast made of electricity rushed at him.

The boy jumped down and tried to out run the beast in midst of the trees but sadly for him the beast simply tore through the tree and hit him. Pain, excruciating pain riddled his mind as countless voltage of electricity passed through his body burning him. After what seemed to be an eternity the pain finally stopped, leaving him to sprawled to the ground. "Do you surrender?" the voice of the younger genin seemed like the voice of grim reaper and at that moment all he could do was to nod dumbly.

Sasuke let out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding, that last attack had almost drained him, and on top of that he needed to find his team soon. He tied up the boy with ninja wires and searched him for a scroll but evidently he was not carrying one. 'I hope this is the last fight for today' he almost prayed before he started going to the area where his team first was. He was sure that Ino would leave some trail.

WITH NARUTO 

Naruto gritted his teeth as another bout pain wrecked his body, he could feel himself burning with fever. 'Please someone make this pain stop' he prayed, his body was limp and he could feel his breathing getting shallow. As the pain started again a scream tore out of his vocal cords. He was seeing strange faces in the foliage; he could almost see a tall red haired lady sitting behind him. He didn't recognize the woman but her face seemed so pure he felt relieved. Time seemed to stand still for him.

Suddenly he thought he saw some one that looked remarkably like Ino to fly into a tree, she seemed to be bleeding. Naruto forced his eyes to open a bit more so that he could see clearly, see who the girl was. And to his horror it was Ino, she seemed to be in a very bad condition her right hand hung lifelessly, her dress dirty and torn in pieces and she was holding a leg oddly. 'Move' Naruto growled in his mind as he tried to stand up but his body was rebelling. 'I said move you stupid son of a bitch' he growled again as this time he managed to lift his body. But as he tried to stand up he fell down again.

"I will never let you any of my precious peoples get hurt again" he yelled as he drew up on the vile chakra of his tenant. Chakra in its pure undiluted form flooded his coils lending strength removing the poison. With his glowing red eyes Naruto watched the two enemy ninjas attacking Ino. One of them rushed in with her fist ready while the other let loose several large shuriken. Red chakra came alive around him as five clawed chakra arms shoot straight from his back crushing every single throwing star to dust. The chakra receded back to seal as Uzumaki Naruto stood tall, he was pissed royally. The Kyuubi's chakra still remained in his system even though in less amount giving him a feral look.

With a dash he intercepted the punch the older girl threw at Ino and with a kick in her stomach threw her back. "Don't dare harming my friends" his low guttural voice held none of the warmth they usually possessed. His hands formed his favorite seal before hundreds of blonde haired blue eyed boys covered the area. "Wait we surrender, here is the scroll just don't attack" the sand shinobi were in the verge of pissing themselves, the power they just sensed was by every means the same as Gaara and they knew better than to mess with a demon incarnate.

As the two sand ninja fled the area a haggard looking Sasuke dropped down, "let's go we have the required scrolls, we need to reach the tower soon" he said between the pants. "But Sasuke Kun you are tired shouldn't we rest first." Ino said, she had bandaged her wounds somewhat but frankly she was tired and wanted to rest. Sadly for her Sasuke had other ideas, "I think the sooner we get out of the forest the better it is for us."

Naruto didn't care about the either, unlike others Kyuubi's had filled his reserves and all things considered he was perhaps in better condition than the way he started. He just couldn't explain the uneasy feeling in his gut. His unease really got stronger as they started their journey to the tower. He could explain why but he was feeling a strange dread. The dread came to realization as a gust of wind hit him from the sides throwing him farther away from his team until he his head on the trunk of a tree and crashed down. "That hurt you son of a bitch" he yelled to the heavens as a rushing sound from the sides alerted him of the impending danger. He dived to the front as a humongous snake collided with the tree toppling it easily. Its green scales glistened in the sunlight as the reptile fixed its unblinking stare on him; he forcibly swallowed the lump forming in his throat. A moment's pause then the reptile lunged at him with a speed that belied his girth. A quick substitution saved his skin, but in turn the log that saved his neck reduced to nothingness. "You over grown garden hose, you think you can kill me?" Naruto yelled his hands already moving through seals before wind chakra gathered around his hand with a slashing motion he unleashed a large bestial claw formed of wind chakra on to the reptile** "wind style: beast tearing gale palm."** This was the strongest jutsu in his inventory without resorting to the nine tail's chakra but he only wanted to use it in worst case scenario.

The chakra claw left deep gashes on the scaly hide of the reptile throwing it a great distance back before it swung its tail with vengeance. This time Naruto failed to completely dodge the attack the tail catching his feet knocking him of balance, he heard his bone break with a resounding crack but endured it for dodging the next attack. 'My strongest attack was not enough to completely defeat it but this time it will be' **"multiple shadow clone jutsu"** Naruto yelled as at least thirty clones came to existence. This was going to be his last throw of dice; all thirty Narutos threw kunais while the original made the required hand sign before pumping chakra and calling out **"shadow kunai jutsu."**

Uncountable numbers of kunai riddled every single inch of the snake's body and the large reptile fell to ground dead. "Huh! Take that you slithering creep" Naruto couldn't really believe it, he had taken it down a snake the size of two storied building. But he knew the task was not finished yet, he had to find Sasuke and soon. He quickly pulled a bit of fox's chakra to heighten his senses, now he could easily recognize the scent of his team mates mixed with blood sweat and what felt like terror. Without a moment's delay he rushed at the direction.

Meanwhile somewhere in the forest

Anko stopped once more the snake on her neck flicked its tongue out tasting the air before hissing out the direction. Many years ago Mitarashi Anko was the apprentice of snake sage Orochimaru, she idolized her sensei but she was betrayed. Orochimaru branded her with a curse seal and discarded her thinking her to be useless. For years she had been scorned by ninja and populace of Konoha alike. But she never gave up her hatred made her strong; it gave her purpose and now she would fulfill her mission. However she had been running for at least ten minutes the snake sage had slithered through the area almost haphazardly suddenly she felt the air begin permeate with pure blood lust and an oppressive feeling. 'Shit' she cursed in her mind before quickly turning on her communication channel to the hokage's department, "this is s jounin Anko Mitarashi from the forest of death, we have a situation here send in anbu squads this is code red, I repeat this is code red. I fear white is also present." She put higher amount of chakra in her feet as she rushed to the place the oppressive feeling was seemingly generating, the situation had gone off the hand, she held no delusion of her powers. A tailed beast's power is impossible to beat except for someone like Hashriama Senju or Madara Uchiha she would be useless in the fight but still it was her responsibility to at least check the area. As she raced ahead she could sense two incredible chakra signatures clashing against each other. "Orochimaru" she hissed through her teeth, she was not sure what was going on but she knew her old sensei was in the thick of it. Senses honed by years in service alerted her to duck as a powerful shock wave from a distance ahead tore through the forest uprooting many trees. Cursing loudly she cut her finger with her teeth and swapped some blood on her palms before going through four seals and slamming her palm on the ground. "Summoning jutsu" she called out as a large cloud of smoke engulf the area before she appeared standing on the head of twenty feet long brown python. This was the Anon the largest summon she was capable of, while not nearly in the league of toad boss or Manda she hoped it would be able to hold off any danger until the anbu came.

Soon she could see them clearly; her sensei stood on the head of Manda, a purple anaconda at least fifty feet long and body width thicker than the trunk of a tree while the kyuubi jinchuriki crouched down in an animalistic manner his body wrapped in a shroud of the monster's fiery power while a tail of pure of chakra flickered in the air, 'this is bad, this is real bad' Anko whispered in blind panic as she recalled the night twelve years ago.

WITH NARUTO TWELVE MINUTES AGO

He was pushing his speed to the limit an unknown fear gripping him. He had no idea who sent the snake but he was smart enough to know who ever it was, he was probably on par with Roshi and that was really dangerous. His eyes picked up another snake this was bigger than the last time with a figure standing top of it.

Naruto just entered the vicinity as the neck of the person elongated unnaturally before biting down on a downed Sasuke. Naruto hated the look of panic in Ino's eyes or the pain in Sasuke's voice, so he did the first thing that came in his mind, he tackled the person. His punch hit the strange man in the jaw dislodging him from the Uchiha's neck. Three clones popped in to life as he dragged Sasuke and Ino out of the place. "What just happened?" he asked Ino as Sasuke had gone unconscious.

Ino was still shaking in fear when Naruto asked her the question but she managed to talk.

"When you were knocked off course we tried to follow you but then."

"But then what?" Naruto was getting impatient he didn't know who the person was but he was sure whoever he was, he was beyond his level.

"That snake blocked our path, and the man… he just came out its mouth. He said we would fight for the scrolls with our life in line. I have never seen Sasuke kun so hesitant before Naruto, it felt like he was scared…." Ino broke off but Naruto had gathered the rest Sasuke guessed the man's power. Still he tried to fight it damn his stubbornness but still it was better than accepting defeat and Naruto respected him for it. He could say nothing as he hugged the crying girl. But he released her when a strange flash showed him huge teeth and some elongating blade. He knew he needed to run but his plan just went to gutter as a large purple body collided with them. Naruto was not able to substitute all he could do was to push Ino out of the way as a huge pressure pushed him down , he was pumping chakra incessantly to stop the pressure but all in vain he was just a meter away from ground.

Ino watched in horror tears pooling in her eyes as she saw her new best friend crushed to ground in to a crater. But then she felt it an overbearing presence permeate the air itself and the snake was suddenly tossed to side as Naruto climbed out of the crater but he was different now. His hair seemed wilder the whiskers she found cute now were more pronounced but giving a feral and dangerous aura and perhaps the most glaring change was the eyes the cerulean blue was no longer there they were blood red with a vertical slit. Slowly before her eyes the body started being covered by a fiery red chakra until a shroud existed around him and a tail popped up. Ino watched as Naruto crouched down in four limbs just like a beast.

"That hurt you bitch." Naruto growled as he popped his neck twice before fixing the red eye to the freak. To his surprise the man's eyes were silted as well but that didn't matter all that mattered was crushing this bastardS standing atop the huge snake to dust. With a roar he lunged at the man only for him to twist his body and dodge the attack. "Impressive seems like my old sensei was trying to build a team of monsters. The last Uchiha and the jinchuriki of kyuubi together…ku...ku...Ku I feel so excited." He commented idly before exhaling a huge gust of wind **"wind style: great break though"**. The high speed wind collided with Naruto directly but the boy endured it until he roared. The roar was like a shock wave nullifying the wind jutsu before several arms of pure chakra formed in his back and rushed ahead to the man but in spite of several appendages trying to get the man, his attacks missed all of them. Naruto let out another growl while four more hands formed from his back but all of the limbs missed him by an inch or so.

"Who the fuck are you?" Naruto roared his right hand covered in wind chakra before he unleashed a large demonic looking claw tearing apart the landscape and finally hitting the man even causing the snake to vanish in a cloud of smoke. "Yeah finally nailed you freak" Naruto yelled in satisfaction but to his disappointment the remains melted off in mud and before he could think clearly a large white tail wrapped around him from behind. A white snake at least twice the purple one's length came face to face with him before its open mouth the man appeared, "it seems you didn't take your classes well Naruto kun or is it my old sensei trying doom more men to death?" Naruto growled his muscles straining to remove the snake's coil and failing, "who do you mean by your sensei?"

"Tut…tut Naruto kun I am sure even you know the sandaime hokage?" the mocking voice was infuriating Naruto. "I am his best student and worst nightmare, Orochimaru." The man said, before he forced his hand forward to touch the seal but a burning hand clasped his wrist crushing it. "I don't care who you are fucker." Naruto yelled as countless chakra arms erupted from his body ripping through the snake and Orochimaru alike leaving him panting badly, his control was slipping and the red chakra returned back to his seal. Some distance away he could hear Ino shouting for him but the fatigue was too much for him. He had never summoned so many chakra appendages at one go but his eyes widened in terror as he saw a badly hurt Orochimaru open his jaws the jaw went wider until another healthy Orochimaru came out, it was like he simply shed his skin.

"You have talent Naruto Kun not surprising given who your parents are but you are two decades too early to even dream of defeating me. I would have killed you but I think you earned your life and this scroll" the man's yellow eyes fixed unblinkingly on the cerulean blue eyes and an unnaturally long tongue flicked out holding a heaven scroll the counterpart of the scroll he carried with him. Next a punch hit him in the chest sending him flying back.

* * *

Orochimaru straightened up as his senses picked on the multiple chakra signatures all jounin level or higher heading his way until he picked up a very familiar scent. "Hello my dear, have you come to say hello to your old sensei Anko chan" he hissed out as he merged with the ground to avoid the hail of poisoned senbon.

"You have not changed my dear apprentice still possess that deadly aim but that will not be enough." Orochimaru laughed as he lengthened his tongue and wrapped it around Anko's hand. "You underestimate me sensei, I am not finished not by far" Anko replied as several snakes appeared out of her hand biting deep in Orochimaru's tongue and flipped the man causing him to crash straight into a tree. "I got you now sensei and this time I will finish my job" she hissed before she dug a kunai straight through Orochimaru's palm while with her free hand began the sequence for the hand seals of a very specific jutsu. Orochimaru's eyes widened as he recognized the jutsu immediately, "double snake assassination jutsu, huh do you plan to commit suicide Anko chan" he spoke calmly before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Now my disciple you serve the village don't go using the forbidden techniques I passed down on you." Anko was startled by the voice that came from her behind. Standing close enough to impale her Orochimaru's snake like eyes fixed upon and almost at once the pain wrecked her body. "Why are you here? Is it to assassinate Hokage Sama?" she wheezed out the pain rendering incapable of even standing. Orochimaru smirked knowing exactly what she was trying to do, "no I don't have the required man power yet I came here but to watch a few talented participants, I already marked one of them with my gift." He was well aware of the Anbu closing in fast but he didn't care, "the boy carries Uchiha blood and unlike you is pretty strong. I believe he will survive and be the perfect vessel for me won't you agree my failed experiment and tell sensei if he cancels the exam then konoha will bathe in blood."

He opened his mouth and an extremely long sword erupted from the cavity easily piercing through the bodies of the Anbu operatives who had come close. He watched as third hokage himself arrived there with even a greater army standing patiently as the fire slowly burned away his body teleporting it to a dark and damp sewer where only a gas lamp burned away in distance covering the place in shadows rather than illuminate the place.

"You are late, Orochimaru." A calm voice commented from the other end of the room….

AUTHOR'S NOTE: HI GUYS MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. WITH THIS CHAPTER MY CHUNIN ARC BEGIN BUT I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS WHICH I NEED THE ANSWERS FROM YOU GUYS. 1. WOULD YOU GUYS PREFER A FIGHT BETWEEN ROSHI AND KIMIMARO OR GAI AND KAKASHI VS. KIMIMARO?

2. FIGHT BETWEEN SANDAIME AND OROCHIMARU AS IN THE CANNON OR FIGHT BETWEEN JIRIAYA AND OROCHIMARU WHILE SANDAIME DEALS WITH THE EDO TENSAI.

NOW ONTO THE RESULT OF THE POLL ABOUT SECOND ELEMENT THIS POLL IS STILL OPEN AND WILL REMAIN SO UNTIL THE END OF THE FIRST PART

WATER: 1+1+1+1+1+1+1=7

EARTH: 1+1+1+1+1=5

LIGHTNING: 1+1+1=3

FIRE: 0

STILL RFDN,THE OFFSPRING FF HAVE BOTH GIVEN VERY GOOD LOGIC FOR CHOOSING EARTH WHILE LORD ORION SALAZAR AND RED HAVE GIVEN GOOD LOGIC TO CHOOSE WATER SO ITS STILL A TIE BETWEEN THESE TWO PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WANT AND ANY THING YOU THINK OF MY STORY BE IT GOOD OR BAD. SO READ AND REVIEW, MY THANKS TO EVERY ONE WHO HAS TAKEN TIME TO REVIEW OR FAVORITE OR FOLLOW.

NOW ON DIFFERENT ISSUE I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY MOKUTON IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO CONTROL JUUBI AND HOW JUUBI CAN USE MOKUTON.

THIS IS MY THEORY FOR IT: SHARINGAN IS ULTIMATE FORM OF SPIRITUAL POWER AS KISHIMOTO HAVE SHOWN US THEN IS MOKUTON THE ULTIMATE FORM OF PHYSICAL CHAKRA IF THAT SO THEN WHY IS EARTH AND WATER NEEDED. AND IF MOKUTON SUPPRESSES A TAILED BEAST'S CHAKRA THEN WHY DID THE ZETSU CLONES REACT LIKE THAT TO A KYUUBI MODE NARUTO. IT IS BECOMING MORE CONFUSING AS MORE CHAPTERS COME OUT ANYWAY I LOVED THE WAY NEJI FELL IT WAS A HERO'S DEATH. RIP NEJI HYUUGA.

AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. THE REVIEW KEEPS MY IMAGINATION FLOWING.


	12. Chapter 12

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental frankly I have no idea why I am not getting reviews maybe my writing was not good enough to warrant any but a request please spend a minute of your time and review, your opinion matters to me._

_**Last time in the protector's pride: Orochimaru attacked team seven and marked Sasuke Naruto collapsed due to chakra loss. Hokage and the anbu failed to capture Orochimaru and he appeared in a dimly lit room.**_

**POWER OF THE CURSED MARK THE PREPARTION TO WAR**

Orochimaru's yellow eyes fixed on the spot the voice emanated from, his long tongue flicked out tasting the air "you don't trust me yet Danzo I am hurt. But do you think only six of your lapdogs will be enough to stop me." The man came forward stepping in the slight light to reveal a badly injured body to the world. "To stop you I don't need my root agents my own strength is enough. You should know that above all." His voice held no emotion only stating the facts.

Orochimaru's eyes glinted in amusement, "let's not put your theory to test yet shall we. On to business my agents have steadily infiltrated the village its time you uphold your end of bargain or will you once again need my help like before." Danzo fixed his lone visible eye to him as he spoke in a threatening manner, "don't push your luck with me snake, and don't forget who kept you hidden all that years ago, who helped you enter Konoha. The meeting is finished." A long forked tongue flicked out as if aroused and without another word the greatest traitor to leaf disappeared in to the darkness.

**PAGE BREAK**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was furious at the security system of his village. He paced around in his room, while the entire barrier and seals division stood in front of him. "Can any of you even explain this blatant failure of your duty?" he asked his killer intent leaking out in small amounts scaring the personnel present. "I don't know sir; the barrier is as strong as ever. Covering a three hundred degree around the village, yondaime Sama himself designed it. It's impenetrable." One of the men spoke but Hiruzen froze with a glare, "well guess what we have been infiltrated there has to be a blind spot for the barrier." "There is one my lord but only some one of our department knows of its existence." One other shinobi present spoke. "That makes it easier for me, cat take them to Ibiki I will not tolerate my own men betraying me." Hiruzen was purely livid, it would have been better if there was some sort of mistake in the duty but to betray your village was something he could not forgive.

As the barrier squad was taken in for interrogation third hokage slumped down on his seat, "you can come out now Jiriaya." A new person emerged from the shadows, he was tall almost a head taller than Kakashi with waist-length spiky white hair wearing a red vest and carrying a scroll. Jiriaya was one of the three students of the third hokage and presently the only one remaining with a tie to the village. "What was Orochimaru after?" he asked, he had sensed the spike in the nine tailed chakra earlier but didn't feel his former teammate's but now he was fearing for the worst. Sandaime took a deep puff in his pipe letting smoke fill his lungs and slowly calming his nerve, he already knew the reaction Jiraiya would show. "He went after team seven consisting of Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Ino Yamanka. While Ino is relatively unharmed your god son is probably has some broken ribs and chakra exhaustion, I have anbu squad watching over them." Sandaime stated while looking out of the window trying to figure out the best possible course of action. "What happened to the Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked he was well aware of his former best friend's fascination with the clan.

"He has been marked with Orochimaru's cursed seal." Hiruzen said without turning to face his last loyal student. The violent cracking sound of the desk broke the deafening silence the statement generated. "So another one of Konoha's children has become victim of that sadistic bastard, sensei it seems like you are crumbling under the weight of this fancy hat." Jiraiya spat, "if only I had killed that wretch then none of it would have happened."

"As his teacher it was my duty to stop him but I failed I know that you are right I am getting older my powers are not what it once were but who to bear this responsibility, Minato is dead and Kakashi is still immature. Tell me Jiraiya who shall I give this burden to, Tsunade abandoned us, Orochimaru betrayed us and you are always away." Hiruzen's voice was clam but his words pierced Jiriaya as he lowered his face. "You don't understand the problem we are truly in, with foreign genins in village we cannot just cancel the chunin exam nor can we tell them of the danger. Only you and I are capable of stopping Orochimaru but even I am growing old." Jiriaya visibly flinched like he used to years ago when sensei scolded him. "I am sorry sensei, I would have helped but this village reminds me so much of all those who I have failed. I feel suffocating here." He whispered the ghost of the pains haunting his eyes. "I understand that but after this chunin exam I will retire, I will obviously want you to replace me but if you cannot then Danzo will have his longtime dream fulfilled" sandaime replied back still not facing his student, in his mind he could easily replace the veteran warrior with the young orphan of twelve years he met years ago. The orphan who lived to bring smile upon his face and it cut him deep to wound his long time student.

Jiriaya felt like someone slapped him hard, "but Danzo, you cannot allow this old man. That person is worse than Orochimaru he will burn the village to ground taking half of the world with him. What if I bring Tsunade back, she will be a good candidate." "No she will not be, she is too emotional and been too long away to understand the current situation of the politics. I would have chosen you but like forty years ago you still run away when you face danger." Hiruzen spoke while a single drop of tears rolled down on his sunken cheeks; he knew he was hurting the person who loved him more than his son. He was hurting the person who gave him support when he had lost his eldest son in war. 'I am sorry Jiraiya Kun but I had to hurt you for the good of the great tree I must hurt you'

Jiriaya stood as if he had been stabbed. He had hoped that Sarutobi would understand but he didn't, even after all the years he was second best still chasing after the shadows. "I will do it sensei." The words slipped his mouth even without his recognition. Maybe the position will finally allow him to redeem himself. "Excellent Jiriaya kun, take a seat we have lots to discuss." Hiruzen commented before finally turning to face his student making sure to wipe away every drop of tears he shed.

**IN THE FOREST OF DEATH**

**Two days later**

Ino wiped the sweat of her brow, her two team mates lay before her, unconscious. Both of them injured attempting to protect her. 'No more' her mind protested 'too long have you protected me, shielded me but this time I will protect you even if it causes my life.' She placed the wet rag on Sasuke's temple, the said boy squirming in fever while the strange mark where that freak bit him grew darker. While other side Naruto lay still. Ino still had chills just about thinking the fight, she had never seen Naruto so vicious before but still it was comforting and to some extent it warmed her heart to think that Naruto would fight that hard just so she could be safe. Lately she had been wondering a lot about the boy, now that she knew more about him she felt herself being drawn in closer and closer.

She could not stop herself as she laid her fingers on top his lips they felt so soft and warm but she knew this was not the time. Naruto was unconscious totally exhausted from his fight with that snake summoner. She slowly raised him before ripping open his already torn and dirty jumpsuit and gingerly inspected the black and purple bruises that marred his body. In spite of being lean Naruto's body was not flesh and bone instead underneath his horrible jump suit hid a well developed and muscled body. Ino tried to gently bandage the bruises all the while trying to ignore her discomfort in seeing a bare chest boy. She groaned in pain as unconsciously she put a lot of pressure in her left shoulder, she herself was not fully healed from the encounter against the sand genins and yet she was now the only one conscious of her team they had the scrolls alright but fat lot of good that did for her.

Hours passed without anything happening and slowly her guard was getting lower as her tiredness started taking their toll. However her troubles were far from over as on the hill overlooking the cave team seven had taken refuge in stood three figures with a sound insignia and camouflaged clothes. "The orders from Orochimaru Sama are clear, we are to kill Uchiha Sasuke and if the others come in between we are to eliminate them." The tall and lanky girl said while the boys crouched beside her. "We know that Kin you have told us about millionth time." Said Dosu while Zaku came closer peeping through the foliage, "Prepare the trap we planned Kin and Zaku prepare for the direct combat."

Ino had just dozed off when a scurrying sound broke her off the stupor. Throwing the kunai even without properly opening her eyes, Ino was aghast when she saw her kunai had hit an innocent squirrel. Part of her wanted to go and hold the injured animal but she brutally crushed that thought and remained exactly where she was. "Well that plan failed." Zaku said matter-of-factly as he dropped down with the others in toe before rushing ahead to their destination. They had barely covered the half ground before a feeling of string being torn alerted them. Entire team just managed to pull a substitution jutsu in time dodging the deadly rain of metal blades. But they were out of luck as no sooner as had they appeared on the branch on top of a tree than a big log rammed at them.

Dosu smirked as he pushed his hands forward wind chakra pumping through the wind pipes attached to his hand. Countless blades of wind blasted out of the pipes shredding the log into pieces, "I got to give you credit leaf scum that was a well planned trap but to bad for you we are the elites of Orochimaru Sama's army." Ino had come out of the cave now trying to act confident against the numerous enemies. The girl, Kin interrupted Dosu, "let me handle that bitch. Look at her hair her clothes and her nails she is a bloody fan girl. I will teach her what a proper kunoichi is like." Ino never felt more insulted in her entire life, she was one of the best kunoichis of her year and to totally ignore it hurt her pride. She gripped a kunai from her pouch as she rushed to meet her opponent but to her surprise Kin didn't came to close contact rather tried to hit her with senbons. Ino almost smiled as she masterfully deflected all of the senbons away. "What just happened girly…weren't you supposed to defeat m…?" Ino's words lost in her mouth as she suddenly felt wave of nausea hit her and some weird tinkling buzzed in her ears. A solid punch to her injured shoulder sent her fumbling to ground, she tried to stand up but her balance was off.

'What is it… am I under some kind of genjutsu? But when did she hit me with one.'

Even as she was taking heavy beating Ino tried to remember exactly when she might have been caught under the genjutsu. Just as a knee to the stomach knocked the wind out of her the senbons caught her eyes more importantly the bells attached to it. She knew theoretically it was possible to capture someone in genjutsu by all five senses but she never thought it was possible thankfully this incident changed her mind. She was a Yamanka and there was a divine rule in engaging a Yamanka any battle that prolongs the five minute barrier is a decisive win for her clan. Ino molded chakra in her body before she threw a punch forward knowing full well that kin would dodge it but sadly for Kin it was a feint as the punch stopped short and the other hand lashed forward to touch her temple. One touch was all that Ino needed as she released her entire chakra focusing on that point. "Forbidden clan art: mind seal jutsu." Her voice rang through the clearing as Kin slumped to ground unconsciousness her mind trapped in an eternal coma. Ino too fell to her knees.

She was spent and she knew death was near yet she didn't feel panicked. In her childhood death seemed so horrific a subject but now she was not afraid she was accepting death to embrace her calmly. She heard the sound shinobis yell in a distance she felt the ground vibrate as they ran towards her but she didn't care. A black veil was all that she remembered.

PAGE BREAK

Sasuke was eight again, he had just joined academy and all of the clan was expecting him to surpass Itachi one day. He trained late in the afternoon that day again trying to master the acrobatic move he had seen his brother perform so easily and gracefully. He wanted to be like that as well, he wanted to make his parents proud of him. His family would be proud of him just like they were of his elder brother.

Panting from exhaustion Sasuke saw the eight shurikens attached to eight different dummies all of them hitting the last circle but none of them touched the bull's eye. "Shit, well I will just ask nee san to show it to me again." Sasuke panted out before he started heading for the Uchiha compound, he didn't truly understood why they lived almost separately from the village and why were there large walls around their clan compound. As far as he was concerned if they lived in side the main village he would have been able to meet the strange orange wearing kid every day, he felt sympathy for that guy being the loved son of his mother he could never imagine his world without her but that kid was an orphan never knowing a parent's love.

"Kaa san I am home" Sasuke announced only to meet silence in return, a strange foreboding unsettled him suddenly he ran in to the house all the rooms were empty until he reached his father's study. He was feeling afraid a strange feeling tearing at him, he wanted nothing more than to take refuge in his mother's arms but his world crushed that night when he opened the door. The lifeless bodies of his parent's greeted him and the blood, the entire room was filled with red liquid. Sasuke never imagined blood would be so sticky. He slumped on the floor defeated and a strange voice whispered in his ears. He knew who betrayed their clan as only a direct blood relative of their parent's could open that door and there were only two of them. As he felt his hatred for his brother grew so did the whispering in his ears. The voice promised him power more power than he could imagine, power enough to crush the traitorous bastard. At first he was scared, scared to touch the power but then his hunger grew, he lusted to touch the power and slowly a tribal fire mark started spreading along his face and body all the while his body was put under indescribable pain.

* * *

A loud scream tore through his vocal card as the world came to view once more with an incredible euphoric sense of power. Sasuke stood up his sharingan already activated, his eye spotted Naruto lying unconscious nearby and Ino struggling against another kunoichi. 'How pitiful' Sasuke thought disgusted at Ino's weakness. He stood watching as Ino finally knocked the girl unconscious before collapsing down as well. He saw the other two boys charge at her and then he started moving,

"How weak to gang up on a downed victim, how about you take some one of your own size?" a kick to chest knocked Dosu back. Zaku rushed forward with his fist cocked back totally intent on knocking the smirk of the Uchiha's face. But to his surprise his fist hit the air as Sasuke dodged his punch with a burst of speed. A kick to back sent Zaku back flying while he rapidly went through hand seals before he spewed a large dragon made of pure white fire, burning the ground even melting rocks by heat. Zaku pushed his hands forward releasing countless blades of pure wind chakra. The two destructive jutsu clashed in mid air and a large explosion tore part of the landscape throwing the sound ninja back creating a large crater on the ground. Sasuke tried to follow his attack but Dosu blocked his path. "Die scum bag" Dosu roared angered for being knocked back Sasuke blocked his punch but was knocked back when a sonic attack rattled him. "You cannot win against an attack from my sonic gauntlet, even if you block my attack or dodge it, the sonic impact from my gauntlet will always knock your brains out."

But his next attack hit a log and tore it apart as he was suddenly knocked down to ground as Sasuke stood on top of him stretching his arms out. "I see not a bad toy but what would you do if I tear your arms apart?" Dosu screamed as the pressure on his arms increased tearing apart his arms from their very joint. "Extreme decapitating airwaves" Zaku yelled as he thrusted his arms forward releasing almost unlimited amount of wind blades wiping away everything. "I must say that was quite some attack sound ninja but unfortunately that will not be enough." Zaku felt his body chilled as he felt the cold edge of kunai touch his neck and slowly felt his warm blood tickling along the blade.

* * *

Ino had regained consciousness when the excessive heat from Sasuke's fire jutsu washed over her. "My head, damn it hurts" she groaned before her eyes went large in horror as she saw the side of her crush she never thought she would see. She knew too some extent Sasuke was sadistic but this time she felt really scared of him. Especially when he cut the boy's throat in cold blood chilled her spine. "Pick up the dobe lying unconscious we have the scrolls we need now we head for the tower" Ino was startled when Sasuke appeared beside her the fire marks slowly receded back to the mark in his neck, "I will go right now." She stammered out. "There is no need Ino chan I am alright" Naruto came out of the cave limping a bit, "I can keep up."

It took another three hours before team seven arrived near the bottom of the tower already the sun had set almost an hour and half ago but thankfully they were not attacked by anymore enemies. "So what do you propose we do now?" Naruto asked he held the heaven scroll while Sasuke held the earth scroll. "How should I know dobe?" Ino tried to pay no intention to the usual squabble while she carefully looked at the doorway of the tower watching some things written on a placard. She moved a bit closer to the board reading the words written there, "I think I got it" she finally said, "We need to open both the scrolls at the same time." "Are you sure of this Ino chan?" Naruto asked a bit skeptically. "Of course I am sure Naruto Kun" Ino replied unconsciously adding the affectionate nick name to Naruto something that didn't miss Naruto's ear. "Okay dobe on the count of three open the scrolls together. One two and three" the scrolls opened together to reveal an intricate seal design "drop them Naruto it is a summoning seal array" Sasuke shouted as he recognized the seal designs. With a puff of smoke Kakashi appeared with his ever present orange book in hand. "Yo! You guys have made it to the third task. which by the way will not be held for another four days so you guys can rest and recover and be at your best, but remember for me it doesn't matter whether you get promoted or not I am proud of all of you" 'that and the fact I made quite the money off you guys helps as well.' Kakashi said giving his team his patented eye smile

Naruto was touched by the vote of confidence from his sensei. The small true smile that formed on his lip didn't miss Ino's eye, she knew that Naruto was hungry for affection but sometimes the evidence seemed too hurting to be true. Deep down Ino could feel herself falling for the boy, his sincerity, his dedication, his immaturity it all seemed endearing for her. 'And to think that this one loves Sakura damn why can't I get someone just for me?'

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"May I come in Hokage Sama" Kakashi asked his orange book mysteriously absent his characteristics reminiscent of his time in Anbu. "What is the matter Kakashi Kun? Why are you so serious?" Hiruzen asked taking a large puff of his pipe while Jiraiya stood at that the back of his chair. "Hokage Sama as far as I can say the team will make full recovery but I have found a cursed seal applied on Sasuke, is Orochimaru in the village then?" Kakashi's nervousness about the snake sage could be felt by two more experienced shinobi despite of his hiding it. Sarutobi pondered for a moment on what to tell the former anbu captain, "yes I know that, I came there myself but was too late." "With all due respect hokage Sama, why was I not informed? After all it was my team and therefore my responsibility."

Jiriaya stepped in front placing a seal on the table and applied his chakra. "Barrier jutsu: dome formation." He called out as a transparent bubble formed around them blocking everything from the outsiders. "We didn't because we needed you to find out by yourself, we are not sure but it seems like we have a traitor. And thus we cannot trust any mode of communication, I know you understand what I am saying Kakashi Kun" Hiruzen said before taking another drag from his pipe, "at this moment we are at the disadvantage but I am sure it's not over. Orochimaru is not someone who will infiltrate us without good reason and if I know him he will strike again and we will be ready." Kakashi nodded before fixing his gaze onto Jiraiya, "Jiraiya Sama I have a request for you, if both Naruto and Sasuke reach the final phase I will have to assign someone else to take care of one student. With Sasuke now marked I feel I must always have him under watch. Will you please take care of Naruto during the time break between third round and this one?"

Jiraiya sighed as his mind for a second drifted back to a young Minato Namikaze; he knew he had let him down and even his duty as a spy master could not explain his gross failure as a god father. "I will do it" he said for the second time of the day knowing full well it would hurt him but still hoping that might be the redemption he longed for.

Sarutobi sensed the turmoil in his student's heart and quickly changed the topic, "Kakashi kun what are the side effects of the seal in Sasuke Kun?" Kakashi hesitated before replying, "The seal has bonded with him better than it did with Anko san. My sharingan has discovered a second source of chakra in the seal which seems more potent than ordinary chakra, in some sense he has become a pseudo jinchuriki I am thinking of sealing it but am unable to come up with anything powerful enough maybe Jiraiya Sama can help me." Jiraiya grunted his agreement his mind still caught up on the past on his mistakes.

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5th day

Anko sat in control room of the tower with several more chunins with a glass of sake while the camera feeds from the forest of death played before them. In front of their eyes various teams got shredded to pieces some by enemy's attack others by the animals present in the forest. "Anko san on the screen two we have the team who completed the task in ninety minutes and without a scratch." The operator spoke from his position near the end of the room, "how is that even possible for a genin?" Anko's jaw muscles tensed as she fixed her eyes on the red haired sand ninja's image on screen, "the record was of four hours and even none of our chunins can make it out the forest without a scratch. I want to see his entire recording and dig me up any information we have about him." The boy seemed ordinary from the screen only odd thing was the gourd he carried on his back, his team mates were not exceptional by any means then what made them invincible. "I got it, give me ten minutes I will send you the report" the operator responded while he started going through the archives for the video he was ordered to find."

The result was crazier than she had expected, that boy alone took out a team of experienced genins from Konoha and two more from hidden waterfall village without moving from his position.

Hayate Gekkou was the best swordsman leaf had perhaps after Kakashi Hatake, the man started with prodigious skills entering anbu in the age of eighteen but three years along the duty he caught a terrible disease. The disease crippled him whenever it stuck, forcing him to cough blood, it was only his pride that kept him going and his lover Yugao Uzuki. Still he knew he must retire soon and but he was surprised when hokage approached him to be the proctor for the third round. Since it was the fifth day he went to the tower to have a look at the competitors, he knew that after this only two or three teams may pass but that would have been enough to disrupt the pattern of the third task. He had barely entered the tower when two chunin guards came up to him, "hey guys what's up?" Hayate greeted the two younger boys good naturedly; "senpai, Ibiki Sama wants to meet you in his office" one of them informed him. Hayate had served a year under Morino Ibiki and in spite of his illness; Ibiki was seriously disappointed to let the young man go. "May I come in sir?" Hayate knocked on the double doors of Ibiki's room.

"Come in" the gruff voice of the head of Torture and Interrogation department invited Hayate in. Ibiki was going through the report Anko gave him last hour. On the surface Ibiki could not find any fault with a genin almost elite jounin level skill, Itachi Uchiha or Orochimaru had been the same but his instincts were telling him to be in alert. 'Sand user if my history is right there have never been someone with that particular skill the closest ability was that of third Kazekage and fourth Kazekage but even then to control jinton to such an extent is not really achieved.' His mind was reeling with the possibilities and for that he needed someone to spy on the team with the possibility that Orochimaru still residing in the village every single squad of anbu was already assigned to internal security, leaving him with very few choices and Gekkou Hayate was his first choice.

Hayate took his seat as Ibiki threw a file with the word confidential pasted on the surface. "I need you to tail the members of this team, report me every detail." Ibiki said, "I cannot shake off the feeling that there is more at play than meets the eye." Hayate knew from his past experience that Ibiki's instincts were never wrong; he silently opened the file before his eyes widened in amazement as he saw the first name on the page. "Baki taught this team, that's impressive" Hayate whistled as he flipped through the pages memorizing each of the faces, "but how long do I have to keep them under surveillance." "Until they are out of the village gates and I know I don't need to tell you but you must not be seen" Ibiki said, if the sand found out they were being kept under surveillance without valid reason they will kick up a diplomatic shit storm something he have neither patience nor the intention of facing.

As Hayate left the room with the file Ibiki once more concentrated on the footages from the forest of death, surprisingly all of the rookie leaf teams had passed when the more experienced ones failed or in some cases perished. He was not an emotional man by any stretch of imagination, cold hard facts were his forte and yet this time he could not help but accept that will of fire burned greater in this generation than ever before. However the fire will soon be put to test. The mere presence of Orochimaru meant that something sinister was waiting for his home.

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Hiruzen sat inside a completely sealed room waiting for the chosen shinobis to arrive while Jiraiya paced the length of the room. He had just returned from the seal crafting chamber with Kakashi, where he had failed for years Kakashi had found a solution to deal with the power of cursed seal at least in theory whether the process actually worked or not only time will tell. 'To think all this year I have been trying to remove the essence of Orochimaru while I could simply suppress it, man I am really getting dull.' Jiriaya thought, he was the most knowledgeable person about the cursed seal after Orochimaru and while he was not proud to admit it his knowledge came to no comparison with his former best friend. However he was soon distracted from his musing as several people entered the room, he had expected the first three persons being Shikaku head of Naara clan, Tsume head of Inuzuka clan and Hiashi head of Hyuuga clan but he really didn't expect to see Roshi in this meeting. He held his tongue as Hiruzen ordered the meeting to begin.

"Orochimaru has infiltrated the village and due the chaos from the chunin exams the security will be lax this entire month. I think we should use that false sense of security to crush our opponents." Tsume was the first to speak "but hokage Sama the risk will be far too great for our civilians." Hiashi spoke next, "I have to agree with her our whole plan would be far too risky for the civilians and we will be underestimating the strength of our opponents." Hiruzen listened to the complaints his two most respected clan heads made but his demure remained intact as he signaled his most intelligent shinobi and the jounin commander to speak. Shikaku who seemed eternally bored raised his head as his commander addressed him, "well while both of you raise valid points I have to agree with hokage Sama here, Orochimaru have already infiltrated the village even if we tighten the security it is really hard to say what exactly the number of troops Orochimaru may have already brought inside the walls. At this point even if we try to protect our borders we will only end up causing more damage. The wiser thing will be to simply take as much precaution we can and prepare for a full scale battle inside the village where we will have the advantage of being the home turf." Hiashi cut in, "but it is impossible to prepare for an unknown number of opponents and even with the aid of our byaakugan and inuzuka's nose we cannot detect all the enemies. I know that and I have fought alongside Orochimaru enough to know that he never attacks without a backup plan first." Shikaku sighed before explaining once more, "troublesome do you think I don't know that facts Hiashi dono, but we can accurately judge who the collaborators are, Orochimaru will aim for hokage Sama and the only time he will be closest is during the tournament round in the chunin exams we can easily keep the outsiders under anbu watch for that period if my guess is correct then the attack will centre the arena and then spread outside while outside forces attack our wall if we can stop the inside attack even before it gains momentum we can easily stop the outer attack if any still holds the will to fight. I for one trust the rookie leaf squads and their jounin senseis and the only village other than our own to reach the final round is hidden sand. It is safe to assume that they will be in group with Orochimaru."

"then why don't we just take them out now when we know exactly what we are looking for" Tsume interjected her fierce nature as the canine based clan became apparent, the entire clan saw Konoha as their territory and like the animals who accompanied them to battle they felt enraged when danger became imminent for the village. Tsume the matriarch of the village was perhaps the most in tune with their feral nature. Hiruzen held up his hands, "while I hate to believe that someone from my village will I betray us I am realist enough to understand the futility of the notion. We have distinguished the outside enemies but are nowhere close to recognizing the inner enemies." Roshi had remained silent till now but this time he broke his silence, "that's all good and stuff but why am I here this doesn't concern me I told you already I don't want to be dragged into your fight my only concern is the young Uzumaki kid." Jiraiya was feeling rather irritable with the indecision of the clan heads, the attitude of the four tailed jinchuriki drove the final nail in the coffin so to speak, "the group that is after you is akatsuki a group made of solely s ranked criminals without the protection of a village you will not survive long. My spy network says that already five tails and seven tails are captured both being stronger than you. So stop you flippant attitude you need us more than we need you." Roshi stood up from his seat his pride being injured from the jab.

Sarutobi tried to diffuse the heated situation building up between two shinobis with enough power to level half of the village. He flared up his chakra and roared, "Will you two please shut up, both of you are borderline kage level and yet you are squabbling like children. Roshi I had no intention to involve you in missions or such but right now we don't really have any choice please try to understand and Jiraiya calm down." The tense atmosphere evaporated after a moment as Hiruzen once more cleared his throat as he started detailing his plan for defense.

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Kakashi wiped the sweat off his spiky silver hair; the seal had been successfully applied on the neck of his Uchiha student. 'Now just if this seal actually works it will be perfect, please god let the seal function perfectly' Kakashi prayed but he knew very well just like a jinchuriki's seal until the very essence present in the seal is removed the seal cannot be removed. In the end the test was of the boy's character, how long he could stay away from the temptation of power. "Just what we needed another ticking time bomb" Kakashi whispered to himself as his lone eye fixed on the intricate design of the evil sealing method fading slowly in Sasuke's skin.

Kakashi left the room while the hospital stuff came in to take care of Sasuke. He strode along the dirt road his ever present orange book held in front of his masked face. He had been in almost innumerable problems since his adulthood due to his habit of reading porn in public. Even thinking about those brought smile to his masked cover face. No one really understood why he did that no one really understood that the books were just masking his lack of social skills. Even after all these years he had only two true friends. The large arched doorway of the graveyard welcomed him but he was not prepared for the other figure present there. The moonlight shone on his golden spikes and for a second Kakashi was greeted with the memory of his fallen sensei.

Naruto had safely eluded the cameras of the tower before he entered the graveyard. Only Ino knew about his night time escapade, she promised to cover for him. All these years of loneliness and dreams of friendship never did Naruto care for the platinum blonde girl to him she was the biggest fan girl of the Uchiha, oh just how wrong he was. Yamanka Ino had provided him support when no one else did she sat by him when his emotional turmoil got better of him, even without his conscious thought his mask slipped before her laying bare his true insecurities. Things he shared only with Iruka somehow felt could be shared with her as well. In the short time he had begun caring for her more than anyone else alive. But that confused him, he knew he liked Sakura, with Haku there was a sense of kinship but then what was his feeling about Ino. His days of pranking provided him a very good idea of the map of village and with the additional boost of speed provided by the kyuubi's chakra he cleared the length of the forest via the underground tunnels in record time. He needed the advice of his big brother and for that rules can be damned.

"Hello, Naruto fancy meeting you here." The voice was so unexpected Naruto almost jumped. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck' cursing himself to hell and back Naruto slowly turned around to meet the smiling face or the lone unmasked eye of his sensei. Trying to act nonchalant Naruto flashed a bright grin, "hey sensei, I just came to talk to Iruka sensei." Ignoring the sudden lump that formed in his throat Naruto continued, "You know to tell him that I am doing good and that I miss him dearly." Naruto expected reprimand or even punishment but the moment of silence that he was awarded with was certainly not what he expected. For five minutes the silence stretched on as a veteran saw the reflection of his inner self in the mirror of life. Kakashi slowly turned back, "get back to the tower or you will be disqualified."

When Kakashi was younger he loved rain at least when he was not fighting because it hid the turmoil in his heart. Today after many years he had felt a strange longing for the rain; it hurt in his chest to see the boy who once used to be the very synonym of energy turned in to this. However in his anguish he overlooked a major point, how did Naruto come into the graveyard so swiftly and safely. Something he would curse later

Naruto was seriously shocked at how things turned out, he was confident that Kakashi sensei would punish him but as the people say why look a gift horse in the mouth. As he stealthily crept in to the tower, he could not shake off the feeling of being stalked also the fact kyuubi started growling added to his discomfort. Soon a pillar of sand rose out of nowhere to block his path, "mother wants your blood" a cold monotonic voice echoed from behind. The growling from Kyuubi full on turned into roaring as he quickly stopped in his track and turned back only to come face to face with red haired teen with a gourd on his back.

Naruto was panicking the killer intent the boy was leaking was fierce inadvertently he took a step backwards. **'GET HOLD OF YOURSELF FLESHLING, I WILL NOT HAVE MY VESSEL BE SO WEAK THAT THE DAMN RACOON CAN FEAST ON HIM'** the booming voice of the nine tailed fox snapped him of the fear that gripped him. Quickly bracing himself for the attack to come from any direction his eyes fixed on the green orbs of his opponent. "Yes that is the power I am looking for, you death will make me feel alive" a psychotic grin found his way to the lips of the red haired teen. "We are not killers damn it, we are more than that and who the fuck are you any way." Naruto shouted his muscles tensing he could now see the deep loneliness mixed with the insanity in his opponent's eyes. 'If I even want to survive I will have to draw heavily on kyuubi's power but that will tear this whole damn place apart.'

"My name is Gaara of the sand and mother wants to taste your blood I will give it to her." Gaara raised his hand and tendrils of sand shot out of the barrier. Naruto quickly side stepped the first few barriers before he tried to parry the last tendril with a kunai but to his shock the kunai broke like it was made of paper. Desperately forcing chakra to his feet, he jumped high of the shooting tendrils before fixing himself to the ceiling, "I don't want to fight here, and she is not your mother, that is the fucking one tailed" he cried out but sand swirled around him to form a sphere of some sort before wrapping around him tightly it felt like the sand was trying squeeze him to death. Like some ominous word Gaara whispered "sand binding coffin" slowly the pressure kept increasing until even breathing seemed painful. And then a burning shroud formed around his body tearing through the sand allowing Naruto to drop safely on the floor.

"I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT; I AM LIKE YOU DAMN IT." Naruto yelled this time his rage and frustration mixing to create a double layer voice. But luck was on his side this time as three more people were attracted by his yell and the heavy output of chakra. Their voice interrupted Gaara. Quickly turning to the side Naruto saw Sasuke and two genins who were with Gaara running towards them. "You ok dobe." Sasuke asked taking position beside him while the other two tried to reason with Gaara in a low voice. Naruto's keen hearing caught some fragments of words like Baki and plan but thankfully Gaara eased a little. He fixed his eyes on the two leaf shinobi before he spoke, "we will meet again and then mother will bathe in the blood of you two I promise you that." With a body flicker he vanished from the place leaving behind only a pile of sand the other two sand shinobi also turned back.

"Bloody nutcase" Sasuke muttered but he could sense the power emanating from Gaara and he longed to taste his mettle against him. "No he is different that's all any way what happened to the hickey that snake creep gave you?" Naruto said panting badly, the adrenaline wearing off to leave him drained. "Kakashi sensei took care of it now I just have to take it easy for a week" Sasuke said tried to be indifferent but a strange bitterness tainted his voice, "let's go dobe we have the third task tomorrow."

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The early morning found all six groups of genin standing in a big courtyard while the sandaime hokage stood with several jounin and a sickly looking man with a long katana strapped to the waist. "Hello, to everyone I am Sarutobi Hiruzen the sandaime hokage of leaf and I welcome you all to the third and final round of chunin exams. I am sure all of you have read the message in the front door that was something shodaime Sama wrote but you need to understand the true meaning of it. A chunin is the captain class military rank and you need to be balanced in both aspects of life but I am here to tell you the true reason behind the chunin exams. I know all of you expect something like strengthening international brotherhood but to be truthful that's a shit load of bull crap, chunin exams are used only as a replacement of war. By sending the young and talented genins the villages merely show the power of their youth and attract clients I believe all of you are worthy to know the truth. So far every test you had been as a team but this test will be as an individual only." Hiruzen then signaled the sickly looking man to come forward.

"Thank you Hokage Sama, I am Gekkou Hayate and I will be your proctor for the third task." Suddenly a bout of cough hit him cutting his speech but thankfully the bout didn't last for long. Recovering from the cough he started speaking again, "this will be a tournament style match where the participants will be facing each other however due to the large number of successful genins a qualifying round is being held." Once more his speech got interrupted by the cough this time Hayate could feel blood in his mouth but he swallowed it back and continued, "we will randomly choose the opponents if any one wishes to step back please do so now."

* * *

Ino touched her injured shoulder gingerly, she had recovered her chakra and stamina but her shoulder was still troubling her, for a moment she considered backing out but one look at her comrades and she realized it was not an option. 'Both of them seem eager if I back out now I can never come out of their shadow.' Fist clenched Ino prepared for the fight against anyone who will be chosen. For a while only silence reigned as every genin looked deep in their soul to find the fire that will let them fight against each other.

As Hayate was about to start the phase Kabuto stepped forward, "proctor san I will like to retire." Hayate arched his eye brow as the boy seemed in pristine condition to back out heck almost ninety percent of combatants were more injured than this boy. "Any particular reason" he asked following the rules."

Kabuto's face morphed into a mask of pure disappointment ignoring the surrounding cat calls of wimp and coward, he spoke "I am out of chakra and no good in one on one fight I am a medic plain and simple." Hayate nodded in agreement and moved to the machine a bit of chakra pumped into the machine and it sprung into life. "So we begin the preliminary rounds of the third fight, the first two combatants will be" Hayate turned to look at the big screen as there two photo of leaf shinobi fixed, "Rock lee and Hyuuga Neji."

* * *

AUTHOR' NOTE: HEY GUYS THIS CHAPTER MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE INVASION ARC THE PRELIMINARY FIGHTS WILL BE AS FOLLOWING.

NEJI AND ROCK LEE

GAARA VS INO

HINATA VS TENTEN

SAKURA VS KANKURO

KIBA VS SASUKE

NARUTO VS TEMARI

SHINO VS YOROI AKADO

SHIKAMARU VS. MISUMI TUSARGI

And for the invasion time, 1. Kakashi vs. Baki 2. Roshi vs. kimimaro 3. Jiraiya vs. Orochimaru 4. Sandaime vs. edo tensai


	13. Chapter 13

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_ I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental frankly I have no idea why I am not getting reviews maybe my writing was not good enough to warrant any but a request please spend a minute of your time and review, your opinion matters to me._

**_Last time in the story: _****the preliminary round of the third exam begins; the first battle was between Hyuuga Neji and Rock lee while the leaf started their plan to counter attack**

**Destiny collides**

As Hayate loudly called the names of first two combatants a loud gasp could be heard all over the arena. Everyone knew that in the one on one fight you might eventually have to face your own team mate and the announcement only made the impression prominent. "Genins please come inside the ring." Hayate called and two blurs shot from the stands to take place in the ring facing each other. The other teams quickly went to seat in the viewer's box to watch and plan their strategies for whoever may emerge victorious.

Team seven went to the top box where Kakashi and the weird looking eye brow guy was standing idly chatting and Kakashi still reading his porn. "Hi Kakashi sensei" Naruto called out brightly once he was close enough. "Yo guys" Kakashi greeted his team back while the teacher of team nine beamed at the genins, "come my cute genins let us watch this match and fan our flames of youth." A confused look passed through the members of team seven but wisely they kept shut.

Meanwhile in the arena two taijutsu prodigies faced each other, "give it up Lee, you know you can never defeat me." Neji's voice was colder than ice; he was frustrated, his uncle was present and he wanted to show him his true power, power that the main branch held away from him. And for that he had to crush the heir and by his oath he will. But lee stood in the way, Neji knew he could beat him, he had beaten him before but why was he feeling the strange confidence from him.

Hayate yelled go and like two arrows released from their bows the two taijutsu prodigies clashed against each other. Lee's fist rushed in only to be slapped aside by Neji's palm, while Neji swiftly side stepped lee's kick. Lee was faster of the two but the margin was too slim to be anything substantial. Even without his byaakugan Neji could track his movement, and that alone ensured he was still unscathed while some of his attacks hit lee. But still the amount of chakra he was able to put in those strikes was far less than needed. 'He is truly fighting with all of his being but I can still win.' Neji snarled in his mind, and his attack speed increased soon forcing lee to be on defensive. However for Rock lee this battle turned in to a battle of attrition, he knew while both of them were damaging each other he was steadily taking much more damage.

"Sensei, permission to take off the leg warmers" Lee shouted over the noise of cheers and jeers as blocked another of Neji's strike and delivered a kick to his lower abdomen. As he expected he saw Might Guy flash him a thumbs up. Quickly disengaging from the fight lee created some distance between him and his greatest rival, he could already feel some of his body getting numb but what Neji didn't know was the determination Lee possessed propelled him above others. His endurance knew virtually no limits. Lee slowly took off his leg warmers before dropping them on the ground where a small crater formed. "Did you think you could defeat me without taking off the weights?" Neji spoke arrogantly from his position; he knew for long that his teammate was actually using limiter on himself. But the Hyuuga genius was not ready for the speedy kick Lee threw at his chest, and even though he managed to block the kick he was still pushed back by a few feet. Lee's speed seemed to become twice his base speed as now Neji was helplessly taking damage unable to respond to the sheer speed but still maintaining the stance.

In the stands Naruto cheered loudly, "go bushy brows, you can win" but he was the only one as the others had a grim look. "Sensei what's the matter were you supporting the Neji guy?" Kakashi shook his head in denial as his most impressionable student asked him the question he was about to explain the reason but Sasuke beat him to it. "That's not it dobe, Hyuuga is not using his true powers he hasn't even activated his byaakugan yet, he is setting up a trap and lee is falling steadily into it." He explained his mind understood the plan perfectly. "Yosh Kakashi san you taught your students well. The young Uchiha is right Lee is about to lose he is still immature but have no worry in the next two years I will train him to beat even the strongest Hyuuga and if I can't do that I will do ten thousand pushups if I can't do that I will run twenty thousand laps of Konoha and If I can't do that…." Naruto couldn't trust his ear, was the man mad but thankfully Kakashi stopped the flow easily and he once more concentrated on the fight below.

The veins around Neji's eyes bulged and an outline of eyeball formed in his milky white eyes. Silently the strongest bloodline of leaf blazed to life. He pumped chakra throughout his tenketsu creating an invisible barrier of sorts. Lee could not believe what was happening his attacks were slowing down as they neared Neji. For the last two minutes he had the upper hand, he could see Neji was taking him lightly not activating his byaakugan and he was determined to beat him and make the genius regret his decision but this thing felt like sorcery for a brief second he halted his running and stilled. That mistake proved to be his undoing as Neji quickly moved to offensive. With a surgeon's precision and cheetah's speed he was hitting the body of a helpless lee turning his dormant chakra against him. "2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms" Neji chanted as innumerable blows battered Lee's body closing his vitals one by one, until finally he called out "32 palms and final strike eight trigrams sixty four palms." Lee crumbled to the ground below as his body refused to move his chakra was closed off unable to even open the celestial gates. Neji moved closely he had certainly taken some damage but to silently create the chakra field around him so that attacks slow down took a considerable amount of time. "I told you lee, fate has dictated me to winner you can never win against me." His voice held no warmth for his comrade only bitterness towards life, "it's futile to struggle against fate, you who have been decreed to be a loser can never win against a genius like me."

Kakashi noticed the flickers of emotion in Naruto's heart as he expected Neji's words were affecting him. He knew of that feeling, the same feeling that drove Obito to sacrifice himself, the urge to prove the speakers wrong to show them your true power. For a while he could almost replace Naruto with his old comrade the same old spark but only Naruto is much more matured. However he had to quickly divert his attention as the next match was called out this time involving Sasuke and Kiba Inuzuka. He quickly grabbed the hand of Uchiha heir, "don't call up on the seal's power in any circumstance."

Sasuke nodded and quickly jumped down ignoring the good luck wishes from the surrounding genins. Kiba also jumped into the arena his partner akamaru landing beside him. "Why do they always cheer for you but never for me? My teammates also think you will win everyone thinks you will win but I will not be looked down upon." Kiba's voice reflected the resentment boiling deep in his heart and akamaru barked in agreement. To some extent Sasuke could relate to him could feel sympathy for him but the sympathy was useless to an Uchiha only the power mattered in the end.

He quickly readied himself to counter the attacks he was sure the Inuzuka heir would send at him. Kiba's eyes flashed in anger as his words were ignored by the Uchiha, his anger had reached the boiling point and he wanted to finish this fight straight of the bat. "Akamaru catch" he called out as he threw a soldier pill to his canine partner, it was time to bring the big guns. The gentle looking white puppy went through a complete metamorphosis as he ingested the pill; his fur turned red and looked much more feral. "Human-beast clone" Kiba yelled as he let the chakra coat his partner. The enraged roar was followed by a large cloud of smoke and two feral looking Kiba attacking Sasuke with amazing speed. They ran in zigzag pattern with great synchronization. But Sasuke's eyes even without his sharingan could easily keep up with the speed and the hellish training Kakashi put him through allowed him to easily parry the furious swipes of the animalistic ninja or so he hoped as soon enough the two lookalikes attacked simultaneously. Only his perfect use of substitution technique allowed Sasuke to evade the attack unharmed. Kiba wasted no time in attacking again as his heightened sense of smell alerted him of the Uchiha's position. And this time he scored a hit as one of his swipes hit Sasuke in the shoulder drawing the first blood.

Sasuke felt the pain coursing through his body as warm blood trickled down his shoulder. Outwardly he remained calm but inside his rage was building and like the Inuzuka heir he too wanted to finish the match. His obsidian black eyes changed color as he awakened the blood in him and two comma like shapes swirled in his eyes but unexpectedly the seal on his neck reacted as well and pain wrecked his body, both from inside and outside as Kiba seized the opportunity to bloody the rookie of year. Bringing him to his knees, his eyes now easily reading the inuzuka's movement saw the puppy disguised as human coming close, he waited until the puppy was close enough to deliver an attack and then he lashed out with a chakra enhanced punch straight to the heart.

Kiba was running full speed he was giddy with his prospect to win due to the blood covering his left claw. But even then his dreams were torn asunder as he heard his faithful puppy yelp painfully. Forcing all of his chakra to his limbs Kiba managed to intercept the kunai Sasuke was bringing down on akamaru. Even as the metal knife pierced his skin he kept guarding the little puppy. His one free hand sneaked into the pouch containing the smoke pellets. With one forceful tug he ripped the kunai of the Uchiha's hand misbalancing him and at the exact time threw the smoke pellets on the ground.

Sasuke cursed loudly as a thick cloud of smoke rendered him blind and the pain in his body was increasing by moments he had to finish it in one move and with the thought he started gathering chakra in his lungs. The cloud of smoke wouldn't last for long and when it would disperse he would finish the match.

Kiba's rage had gone beyond what he had ever experienced before hurting him was alright but injuring akamaru was not. He built up his chakra as his partner flared his to maximum two hand seals later he let the chakra release and felt his body elongating mimicking that of a canine and at the same time fusing together with akamaru.

As the smoke dissipated off the arena the spectators were greeted with a long high-pitched howl of a large two headed white furred wolf. Up in the stands Tsume was surprised to see the technique being applied by her son. She used to think the boy was a failure not at all talented like his sister but this stunned her, to be able to apply such a high ranking technique perhaps she needed pay more attention to the boy now.

Sasuke was surprised as well when a large at least as tall as a horse two headed wolf swiped its claws at him. Its two foaming jaws were closing down on him when he started the string of hand seals. "Fire style: flame of heaven" he roared loudly before exhaling the bright white hot stream of fire. The wolf couldn't even move from his position when the fire hit him. But surprisingly it held on, even as the heat was damaging him trying to push him back the Inuzuka heir held on strong. Sasuke was surprised at the resilience the young Inuzuka heir was displaying, he could barely keep up the attack for five more seconds and unless Kiba gave up by then he was done for.

Desperate, Sasuke pumped his last chakra in the attack while Kiba launched himself in a desperate charge. The resulting explosion sent a shockwave throughout arena shocking everyone present and a cloud of dust and debris blocked the genins from the view.

'What power, truly this generation will surely surpass us and then as the broken remain of a long gone era I shall rest.' Sarutobi Hiruzen squinted hard to see the boys in the smoke one lying face down another panting in exhaustion, "medics to the arena." He raised his voice as the waiting medics and doctors lifted the unconscious Kiba to stretcher and two more medics stood by the exhausted Uchiha.

Sasuke felt drained his eyes reverted back to black and a strange emptiness was haunting him. The announcement seemed to be coming from afar. "Good play Kiba" he whispered as finally the darkness claimed him.

**PAGE BREAK**

When he opened his eyes again he was lying inside a white walled room. "You should not have used that attack I forbade you to use it against your comrades." Kakashi's words pierced him and Uchiha Sasuke could help but wince inwardly. "I had to end it the seal was flaring up and it is the strongest attack I had." He retorted back. Kakashi pushed aside the comment, "the reason your seal affected because you sought power and that doesn't solve everything. Your sharingan is not power it's a weapon a gift how you use it decides its power." Sasuke was silent as Kakashi turned back to leave the room "see you tomorrow at the north gate and pack for three weeks"

Kakashi cursed silently as he had his work cut out for him, he knew it was partially his fault that Sasuke wasn't still adept to the sharingan and he wanted to remedy it. But suddenly his senses went off and as he drove to the side a long sword pierced the place he stood moments earlier. Sitting on the open window sill was the snake sage himself a cruel predatory smile on his lips. Quickly pushing his headband up Kakashi revealed his sharingan and deftly side stepped the next stab while throwing a lightning encased kunai. Orochimaru just lazily moved his neck aside letting the kunai sail safely, "young Kakashi you have still lots to learn if you want to be the next white fang." His tone jovial as if discussing the weather but his eyes told a different story they were gleaming.

Underneath the mask Kakashi felt his jaw tighten once more the shadow was chasing after him once more reminding him of his greatest failures but he held strong. Drawing two kunai from the holster he attacked the sage. A short clash of furious blades later Kakashi managed to land a slash on the nuke nin's body thanks to his sharingan but the body melted off in mud. And at once a long sword pierced him from behind and a long tongue wrapped around him. But inside the mask a small smile formed and the body vanished in to smoke.

Orochimaru didn't seem fazed when the copy ninja vanished in smoke, he simply jumped back to avoid the lightning encased fist from tearing in to him. Kakashi cursed aloud as his raikiri pierced through the floor but missed the target already Orochimaru was on his move, a flurry of green snakes flew towards him. Even as he started the hand seal single handedly he knew it would not be fast enough but the fortune smiled on him as a blue sphere of chakra collided with the snakes obliterating them and grinding in to Orochimaru only for him to vanish in smoke. "Master Jiraiya, thank you for saving me" Kakashi spoke his hand now free and headband pulled to place. The tall white haired man turned back to face him, "Kakashi, you are still not ready even if you are s ranked you will need serious training if you hope to match me or Orochimaru in battle. I will only say this once and consider it an order, when I engage him stay away from the fight that slithery bastard is mine."

**PAGE BREAK**

Naruto was getting restless first Sasuke got hurt and then sensei went to check on him but that was ten minutes ago before two matches. Already he was getting restless and compared to the fight Sasuke provided the rest were simply not up to the scratch. First there was the match between Shino and some weird guy named Yoroi Akido. Both of them tried to suck the others chakra, Shino with his insects succeeded while the other boy simply failed. But in his opinion this match was too creepy; he was bored during the next match as neither Hinata nor the panda girl wanted to do anything. With the bloodline's ability Hinata dodged the hail of weapons Tenten sent at her until she had managed to deplete all the weapons the bun haired girl possessed when she finished fight with two or three accurate strikes.

Naruto felt his blood turn cold when he saw the next match up. Ino was matched up against Gaara the very thought was enough scare him. He saw his friend preparing to the sand genin without knowing the truth, he wanted to stop her he wanted to tell her the truth. But something held him back, his fears his insecurities held him back from telling her.

Ino heard the muttered "best of luck" from her friends except from the one she was waiting for most. Naruto stayed silent even as she got down to arena, her opponent appearing before her with a cloud of sand. As the cold green eyes poured deep in her blue ones and she felt the fear grip her for first time. Hayate announced the start of the battle and at once Ino launched a volley of ninja stars at him. The boy didn't even move from his position, the sand simply formed a barrier to swallow the shurikens.

Ino wasted no time, already on the move she tossed a kunai from behind only for that to be blocked once more. She was starting to feel scared now but she didn't want to give up if the direct attacks didn't help she would have attack with a feint. Running towards the boy who still stood in his place she side stepped the spikes sand was forming around her. From the distance of two feet she launched the kunai with explosive tag while herself using the momentum to propel in the opposite direction releasing several more shurikens.

But once more the sand protected the boy even the explosion from the tag did no visible damage to it. Ino quickly formed the required seal for the mind body switch technique. No sooner had the sand fell back than she released her attack. Just as she had hoped Gaara was unaware of the Yamanka techniques or he had hoped that sand would block it. But mind could not be blocked by a grain of sand and her attack hit the mark.

**PAGE BREAK**

Naruto finally managed to find his voice and the warning escaped too late. Helpless he watched as Ino performed the mind body switch. For any other opponent this attack would be a knock out but for a jinchuriki this was poking a dragon in the eye. Naruto waited baited breath one second passed two seconds and like this fifteen seconds had passed when a loud scream tore out of Ino's vocal cords. In the podium Sarutobi's brows furrowed deeper as finally the pieces were falling on places. Kakashi just entering the arena froze in his tracks as he felt a strange blood lust wash over the air.

A hand formed of sand grasped Ino's leg and tossed her on the air like a ragdoll. Her horrified screams pierced the other genins but they had their hands tied. In the stands Kakashi saw Naruto's eyes flickering between red and his usual blue. The sharpened claws bit deep in his hands and drew blood but Naruto paid no heed to it. Once more one of his precious persons were being harmed but even now he was helpless just as he had been when Iruka nii died, just as he had been when he killed Haku, just like in the forest when Sasuke was marked.

Ino felt some of her ribs shatter as she slammed back hard on the ground. The impact causing her to vomit blood, trembling she tried to stood up, she couldn't give up not after being so much behind her team mates if this battle claimed her life so be it. She wanted to counter attack but Gaara gave him no chance at all. His entire visage had changed his eyes were calling for blood. He was thirsty and Ino's blood would satisfy his thirst.

"Sand coffin" Gaara whispered like a judgment for the damned. Tendrils of sand flew surrounding her binding her; Gaara raised his hand fingers outstretched before slowly closing it and soft whisper of "die". The pressure encased so much that Ino felt the bones in her arm shatter. Against all her will she screamed out, "I give up" Hayate tried to move in but a wall of sands rose before him stalling him. "Mother craves your blood" Gaara roared his green eyes dancing with insanity but this time his blood lust was not to be sated as a powerful blow rattled him. Naruto stood in front of him blood red eyes glaring at him while a silver haired masked man carried his prey. "Stay back Gaara if you wish to live" the low guttural tone was sending shivers down his spine.

Sandaime felt a small tear roll down his cheek as he saw the power that was supposed to protect was now making his pseudo grandson feral. Kyuubi's power was saturating the very air around him; slowly he raised his hand to signal the hidden anbu squad. Thankfully that was not necessary as Naruto was still in control slowly lessening the output of chakra but still the hate and rage remained. He watched the names roll on the screen before settling down on the fan holding girl from sand while the other image still rolled until it reached the image of Naruto.

His sharp canines bared in to a smile as Temari floated down on the arena. Hayate could guess the feelings in the competitors he skipped the countdown and yelled go. Temari attacked first with a swing of her war fan a sharp blade of wind chakra flew at Naruto. Naruto had been in run then without even slowing down for a single moment he slid on the ground letting the blade sail safely over his head. His hands moving through the hand seals he easily recalled. "Wind style: great break through" he called as he exhaled the chakra encased wind.

Temari had not expected to meet a fellow wind user in the chunin exam especially from the opponent the chakra nature was rare even in wind country. She used her great fan as a shield but still the impact from the wind pushed her back. 'What power even if he is not really proficient enough to use it without seals' Temari skillfully used the fan to swing behind her back and release countless blades of wind chakra. This time Naruto formed around fifty shadow clones to act as shield while he himself kept pushing forward. His experience against Haku taught him to never stay far from someone who uses ranged attacks. Temari was master of wind blades all of them heavily destructive but he was certain he could beat her in closed range.

But the way and with the speed she used that heavy fan approaching close was the trouble. Even with the kyuubi's chakra enhancing his speed the wind blades were faster than he. 'I may have to call on the chakra cloak but that is the last resort' Naruto thought with gritted teeth as finally a wind blade slammed in him. The impact lifted him of his feet and a deep gash appeared in his torso.

Naruto hissed in pain as he quickly vaulted forward to regain some of the ground he lost. Running in zigzag way he once more restarted his previous attempt, but this time Temari used the his own jutsu on him. As the silent wind style breakthrough collided with him throwing him back and causing him to spit blood, he had no other choice but to accept the futility of his attempt. 'She is too smart to be taken down in a direct attempt' Naruto acknowledged grudgingly but it didn't mean he was about to give up only this time he would use a different approach. As he stood back up a dozen shadow clones appeared beside him. As one the clones used shadow shuriken jutsu causing a wall of steel of rush at his opponent.

Temari felt her eyes pop out she witnessed the sheer number of bladed projectiles approaching, "wind style: storm shield" she cried out in panic her hands moving through the seals in a mad dash. A dome of wind formed around her blocking the onslaught. She panted in exhaustion as she felt her reserves dry up, but her troubles were far from over several shurikens that were lying on the ground transformed in to the blonde. Soon Temari found her in trouble trying desperately to minimize the damage the brutal onslaught of punches and kicks were doing to her. She felt the wind knocked out of her as a solid punch hit her in the stomach even she was trying to stumble back two more clones laid a haymaker on her. Her nose was already broken and while she couldn't be sure but she felt like several of her ribs may be cracked as well.

Naruto was handling out punishment all the while aiming to disarm the girl. While he wanted to deny it, he was feeling some sort of savage pleasure from watching the girl bleed. He deftly blocked the heavy war fan with his arms while two clones kicked the girl in the stomach from sides finally succeeding in disarming her. "Do you give up?" he hissed at her as he held a kunai to her throat applying a little pressure to draw blood. Temari bit back a curse she was beaten and knew it still it her pride to give up. "I surrender" she whispered. "Winner by surrender Uzumaki Naruto" Hayate yelled out loud as crowd cheered loudly but by then Naruto was gone. He wanted to no needed to be by the side of his best friend.

Even as he was about to enter the emergency room he found his path blocked by the medical staffs. "Sorry but you are not allowed here" the head nurse said gently while the others glared at him. "Please she is my best friend" Naruto begged her even against his will. He really hated the hospital stuff but even then his own pride was not the concern here he needed to see Ino.

"What's the matter" a gruff voice broke the scuffle from inside the room and a man with blonde ponytail and a red traditional coat stepped out. "Inoichi sama this boy wants to come in" a nurse informed him respectfully while Naruto first time saw the father of his best friend. He had heard a lot of about this man a master of mind he is said respected by the shinobis and commoners alike, right now Naruto could see why this man demanded respect. Inoichi heard the arguments from the staff but still he knew this time it will be inhuman to deny a friend visit when he wasn't sure that his princess would ever wake again. "Let him come" he spoke quietly before turning back. Naruto didn't wait for further invitation he quickly skidded in to the room only to feel like he has been hit again with a furious wind attack. Ino was hooked up on what seemed to be life support system, "how is she?" Naruto asked wishing desperately for a good piece of news. "Can't say her body has multiple crushed ribs and bones she has gone in to coma, we have done all we could but in this situation we can't say anything." The doctor's tone was emotionless serving only to wound Naruto more, "you should go now Uzumaki Kun the final draw will be made soon" Inoichi spoke lightly guiding him to the door. Naruto exited the room with unshed tears, the door slowly closing behind him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN THE LAST CHAPTER BUT SEEMED TO BE THE PERFECT TIME AND IF INO EVER MANAGES TO BECOME A SHINOBI AGAIN OR NOT IS UP TO YOU GUYS YOU TELL ME THE WAY YOU WANT IT. AND SORRY FOR BEING SO LATE.


	14. Chapter 14

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile._

**Previously: Ino has been injured against Gaara and now the matches continue.**

**Colliding fate**

When Naruto returned to the arena Sakura was facing another one of the sand trio however unexpectedly he held no interest what so ever. Even when he sat beside his sensei his eyes searched for red haired sand manipulator. "Sensei when the matches are over I need to train, I need to be stronger a lot stronger." He whispered knowing that Kakashi would hear that but Kakashi remained unresponsive. In the field Sakura was throwing shurikens at the sand genin with a bundle at his back who had yet to begin a move. Sakura seemed much more confident than he used to remember her unless facing Ino for Sasuke. But still Naruto found it hard to care when Ino was injured. Even thinking about her brought pangs of pain in him.

In the field Sakura was going through a string of hand seal and once the string completed she seemed exhausted but Naruto could see nothing occurring. "Don't try to see because you can't see a genjutsu that's not done to you." Kakashi commented still not meeting his eye, he had a lot to think about. Naruto felt his ire rise as Kakashi deliberately avoided his earlier question but he kept silent concentrating on the match for a while it felt like Sakura would win but that changed soon enough as the bundle in the back revealed himself as the true Kankuro and the other one a puppet. A cunning tactics to be sure but Naruto hated to see another one of his friends getting hurt.

"Kankuro wins" Hayate announced the result of the match and as well as the end of the preliminaries. "The winners step up on the arena as I call the names, Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara of the deserts, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Naara, Hyuuga Hinata, Kankuro of the deserts, and by the circumstances getting a bye in to the finals is Chouji Akimichi. Now you shall all draw the chits to find out the number you have been assigned to starting from the left."

Neji drew first "six" he read aloud, "eight" Sasuke muttered glancing at the chit he picked up, "seven" Gaara's monotonous voice sounded almost bored "five" Naruto's frustration could be felt openly through the clenched teeth. Up in the podium sandaime hokage felt a deep sigh escape him, despite all his efforts the danger was becoming imminent. He knew very well Naruto would seek revenge against the Sand ninja only hope he had was the kyuubi's chakra wouldn't break free. Sometimes he wondered whether listening to Danzo would have been the correct decision. Konoha needed someone strong with the Uchiha clan gone and Senju blood scattered in the wind the only hope lay in Hyuuga having a fully efficient jinchuriki would have been a major support and he couldn't deny in times like this when his wayward student was looking to attack he wished for the presence so strong.

"Jiraiya, look after Naruto he will need proper guidance in this situation" Sarutobi whispered to the toad sage who gave a curt nod. But what the two veteran shinobi missed was the smile that appeared on Danzo's face. Fate had handed him a golden opportunity and he couldn't wait to take it but he knew the timing had to be perfect or else he will blow his cover. 'You tried old monkey but this time the jinchuriki will be loyal to me and me alone, I will bring the golden age to Konoha.' He thought with fierce determination.

PAGE BREAK

"I really hate that masked pervert" Naruto spat through gritted teeth, Kakashi had taken Sasuke on a training trip leaving some guy called Jiraiya to teach him. But three hours and he had seen neither hide nor hair of the man, even Roshi was absent for some reason. Quickly skipping back he began raining punches on the tree in front of him, he needed to be agile and precise and if no one would bother to teach him he would learn alone. His knuckles were all ready bloodied as he moved on to the ninjutsu, chakra gathered in his throat as he flipped through hand seals, "wind style: great breakthrough" a blast of wind kicked up dust and debris destroying the tree . "You pump too much chakra yet lack finesse wind element is not about brute strength." A low voice from behind quickly put Naruto to edge, quickly turning around he faced perhaps the most injured shinobi till date. "Who are you old man?" his voice was stern and rough, frustration seeping in without notice or care. "Me, I am no one important, I just used to be a shinobi of this village until the wars came. But do you want some help or not." His voice was plain and devoid of any negativity yet Naruto was torn whether to trust the guy or not but his need to learn far outweighed his aversion. "Yes, I want to know" he responded.

A ghost of a smile flickered in Danzo's face for a split second faster than Naruto could notice, "first you need to understand in wind style the shape manipulation of the chakra plays a much more important role than the rest, the more you mold your chakra in sharper edges the more powerful the attacks become" with surprising agility he performed several one handed seals and released a thin blade of wind. Naruto was really stunned to see the blade cutting through the stones scattered around digging a deep trench around the ground.

"It's now your turn I will keep watch over your progress young Uzumaki" a quick body flicker later Danzo was in his territory his piece now in position and he was relatively certain that in the end he will win. 'Once the nine tail allies with me my root will be unstoppable and that will happen by hook or crook'

Jiraiya stood on top of the cliff overlooking Naruto and his fists clenched reflexively as he saw the relic of shinobi wars approach his god son. He wanted to appear then and there yet he held on knowing full well this was the plan and the only way to lure the war hawk in to the open. 'Time to do the duty I should have done years ago' Jiraiya thought before with a silent body flicker appeared in the clearing a bit away from the practicing teen.

The energy the determination Naruto practiced with was invigorating to watch reminding the sage of his own youth when the only thing mattered was getting strong to prove the world. 'Have I really expected to see this?' if Jiraiya wanted to be truthful the answer was no, he would have preferred the opposite at least then he could walk away but now that option didn't exist.

"I am not impressed brat" Jiraiya uttered the same words his sensei spoke to him when he had been training to become chunin. As expected Naruto quickly stepped back and assumed a battle stance his eyes wearily following everything about the taller man. "Who are you" Naruto was clearly irritated and his voice reflected the irritation all the morning he spent in search of a man who was supposed to be sensei with only a name. He had been ridiculed and laughed at and now when he finally wanted to practice upon the advice that old man provided him a new stranger was blocking him.

Jiraiya was having fun; the irritation of the teen was amusing. Still maintaining his façade he cocked his eyebrow, "it's the common courtesy to offer your name before enquiring of others or do I have to teach that to you as well". Any other day Naruto would have let it slip but the stress and his frustration about his sensei tipped his boiling point really low. "I am Naruto Uzumaki and now who are you?" he hissed through gritted teeth nine tails roaring in his subconscious.

Jiraiya did an exaggerating bow "I am Jiriaya the mighty toad sage from the mount myobaku whose very presence causes the man to fear and women to orgasm and for the month your babysitter." Naruto felt ire rise as he saw the person supposed to be training him acting like a buffoon. "Oi stop it and I am not a baby" he protested loudly his childish nature flaring up slightly "and where the fuck were you I spent hours looking for you."

Jiriaya assumed an even graver aura as he slightly leaked his killer intent, "I wanted to know if you are worthy to be my student and frankly I am not impressed. Still I will give you another chance." "What chance?" Naruto asked this time perfectly serious hiding the nervousness the killer intent was causing, his personal slights didn't matter as long as he could grow stronger. "Well we fight and you will have to land a blow on me think you up to it shrimp"

PAGE BREAK

Jiraiya had to give points to Naruto for guts; he knew the potency his killer intent possessed and the teen ignored it to the best of his ability. His eyebrow arched slightly as he saw the particular stance Naruto assumed, 'so sensei you handed him a part of his legacy and I doubt he knows it'. He bellowed, "Begin" and like a hawk soaring down to hunt the young Uzumaki moved in to offense.

Jiriaya moved his head to left slightly as a power packed punch sailed through the air. From the corner of his eyes Jiraiya could see the already approaching kick aiming for the jaw, moving his head again was out of option as even then he would take a glancing hit. Showing surprising agility for someone his size and age Jiraiya caught the approaching kick in his grip and threw Naruto back.

Flipping once in the midair Naruto landed on his feet a dozen shadow clones appearing beside him. Three of them ran straight in an arrowhead formation. Jiraiya dodged most of the blows coming at his direction blocking only the ones which would otherwise cause him to use jutsu. So far the display had been purely moderate but suddenly he felt his sixth sense go off and sank down in the ground. Just in time as well as a slash of wind chakra dispelled most of the clones.

Naruto had expected perfectly for the toad sage to evade his wind attack but he had not expected the move used. 'Crap he will be under me anytime' and he knew once caught it will be over for him. Jumping up in the sky he barely dodged the uppercut Jiraiya sent at him. A shadow clone appeared by his side tossing him to the trees.

Jiraiya stood smirking as he saw Naruto take refuge in the canopy nearby, the boy certainly was wily and skillful but the main test was yet to begin. The slight shift of the winds alerted him of the boy's intention and a quick replacement technique with a mud clone saved him from the impact of a rather powerful claw of wind chakra. 'He is agile but the attack had far more chakra than it should have. He needs to learn finesse' the sage gathered fire chakra in his lungs and released it towards the canopy lighting it up.

"Fuck" the young Uzumaki cursed loudly as the older man destroyed his refuge forcing him to drop in the ground once more. Faster than he could imagine faster than his eye could follow Jiraiya battered him with blows after blows but he held on. Tried desperately to block as many of the attacks he could but if he managed to block one ten more battered him.

Naruto could feel his stamina wearing off, the man was better than he had expected. He was better than even Kakashi and the only choice he had was to resort to the red chakra imprisoned within. And with one thought he drew upon the fiery cloak of the nine tails healing his injuries refilling his reserves.

Jiraiya had not expected the turn of events as the bloodlust of the mightiest of tailed beasts saturated the very air. But he could say Naruto was still in control and a strange excitement filled him. Quickly sidestepping the blurred red body he flipped back to create some distance, 'he gets really fast like this too bad it won't be enough to save him against those who hunt'. Naruto let out a spine chilling roar before several chakra appendages erupted from the back of his chakra cloak. Craters were being formed every where the chakra arms hit.

Dodging two simultaneous punches, Jiraiya tried to sweep Naruto's feet from underneath but the boy simply leapt back and assumed an animal like stance. Years of experience allowed Jiraiya to feel the keen manipulation of chakra and he could feel a large amount gathering in Naruto's hand. "Wind style: beast tearing palm" a huge claw of wind came at him in speed he didn't expect and a hastily roll saved him but his eyes widened as he saw another claw just feet away from him. He didn't intend to use jutsus to defend himself he really didn't but this left him with no choice. The hairs fed with chakra wrapped around him like a cocoon saving from the cutting wind.

Naruto panted as his cloak receded back the two simultaneous slashes were his trump card and it drained him. He understood what the difference between the power levels truly was. Jiraiya was yet to use anything stronger than a d rank and yet he was nearly unscathed. He felt a presence behind him and soon the cold edge of a kunai touched him in the neck. "Give up" the voice was commanding and for once Naruto thought of giving in but the face of Ino hooked to the machines flashed and his determination grew.

Jiraiya was surprised as excellently agile substitution jutsu took place and Naruto replaced himself with a clone. He blocked the punch in his palm and saw the fire burning in the blonde's eye. "You pass" he commented off handedly letting go of the boy and finally smiled openly at the gob smacked look on the teen's face. "Boy I am a sage almost a kage level shinobi even landing a blow on me would be impossible for anyone less than a high level jounin like Kakashi. I simply wanted to see if you have the guts to continue against odds" the sentence was unfinished but the smile on Jiraiya's face told the rest and after a long time Naruto felt a twinge of pride in himself. He knew the journey had just began but he was a protector and he would protect those who he loves even it caused his death.

"For the next 27 days you shall report to me in the morning now you may go I have some research to do" Jiraiya waited as he saw the legacy of the 4th hokage leaving. The boy had the stubbornness of his mother and deep down the sage knew with enough training he could very well surpass his father as well. "I am getting too emotional better do some research" he muttered before jumping towards the female's bath house.

_**One week later**_

Jiraiya stood in front of a panting Naruto, "again" he commanded. Naruto gritted his teeth he was trying hard for hours to master this task but gaining no progress at all. He gathered chakra once more tried hard to imagine a sharp and thin blade made of chakra and emit it from his palms. A minute passed and the leaf rested on his palms fluttered in the wind as a small cut formed on its edges. Jiraiya nodded with satisfaction he needed the boy achieve the elemental training before he gave him a part of his father's legacy.

"It's so frustrating sensei" Naruto grumbled childishly, his hand outstretched holding a leaf with many cuts but nothing too long. "I know brat but without this you cannot master your wind style so swallow any more complaints" Jiraiya replied he wondered about his next course of action in one hand teaching the boy about the secret or shadow clones would be helpful but without knowing the mental condition the risk might be too big to handle. "All right enough for now", he called out as the leaf finally split from the middle "practice this in your free time; I want you to train your agility and evasive skills."

Naruto bit back the curse he was about to utter, he wanted to rest. Training with the sage had been pure hell he had been forced to wear weights that changed with chakra input meaning if he wished to move normally he would either have to regulate his chakra flow or adapt to the weight. For two days he felt like his body was made out of pure lead thankfully the kyuubi strengthened his muscle mass to a point where he could easily bear the stress.

He barely stood straight when a sharp kunai flew his way only his expert use of shadow clone saved him. "Oi what the fuck at least give a signal" he shouted at his teacher as more projectiles flew at him. The only response he got was two more shadow clones joining the fray. One moved close with taijutsu while the other launched random fire jutsus. Dodging under one particularly close punch Naruto watched in horror as two fire balls raced from two separate sides. Panicked he gathered wind chakra in his lungs and released a super powered great breakthrough the thrust from the attack propelled him high above flames. But soon the momentum was spent and he landed on the ground off balance.

A pair of strong hands prevented him from crashing down however. Jiraiya had a small smile on his lips due to stunt his student just pulled. "Not bad kid you are improving but that move in there was totally idiotic you will die in the field if you pull stunts like that" he said while ruffling the unruly mane of blonde hair. "Are we done for today?" Naruto's voice was small and weak his bones were aching and the tiredness was threatening make him collapse. Jiraiya scrutinized the teen closely, these seven days he had put him through hell and the boy never complained. While he admitted Naruto lacked the analytical mind of his father he was no idiot as long as someone was willing to give him time he would always succeed and by god Jiraiya swore he would not fail again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I AM SORRY GUYS FOR BEING SO LATE. MY LIFE SUCKED THIS MONTH AND BOY IT SUCKED HARD. I FACED DEATHS AND IT CHANGED ME SOMEWHERE DEEP DOWN. I ONLY HOPE YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND MY PROBLEM I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY THIS MUCH I ASSURE. ON ANOTHER NOTE THE RESPONSE FOR MY LAST CHAPTER MADE ME REALLY HAPPY I LOVE YOU GUYS. ONLY ELEVEN MORE AND I TOUCH THE FIRST MILESTONE.


	15. Chapter 15

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_ I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile._

**Previously: Naruto began training under Jiraiya while the final contestants were selected.**

TRAINING CONTINUES

The sun was so bright it felt like scorching her whole body. Everywhere she could see was the endless mounds of sand. She dragged her feet across the desert totally spent and exhausted. 'How did I come here?' she wondered as she fell down in the sand. 'Is this a dream? Why can't I remember anything where am I any way?' the girl muttered trying to sit up only for to fall again. Somewhere far she could hear a mumbled sob but she could not continue anymore.

Naruto watched Ino lie motionless in the hospital bed countless machinery attached to her body. In the last few days she had become thinner and it didn't sit well with him. Sometimes he could understand the anger his prisoner felt, he was pretty sure he could kill Gaara if he so wanted. There were things he kept from the old pervert of a teacher he had. Learning from Danzo was one of them. That man understood him, his anger and his helplessness,

He had helped him improve his wind element a lot while not sharp enough to pierce through metal; he could cut through stones easily. He had even mastered two new wind attacks but still he knew he had a lot of ways to go. Still Naruto could not identify the reason why but he didn't trust that man.

Lately he had been having bad vibes from that old cripple. There was a deep hunger and desire in that man. Sometimes it felt like the man wanted him to become a weapon and it made him wonder would that be so bad. He watched the steady rise and fall of heart beats for a while before jumping away from the building.

PAGE BREAK

The next morning found Naruto standing with Jiraiya in the largest training field in Konoha. "So what today pervy sage any new jutsu?" he asked hopefully. Jiraiya looked at his student with a sidelong glance. He was well aware of the connection between Danzo and Naruto but still he trusted the boy enough to let the training continue. "Yes and no" he replied cryptically earning a confused grunt from his charge. "I plan to but that will depend on how you answer my questions or how well you understand the world of shinobi" he clarified his tone still jovial.

Naruto was curious, this was new and knowing his sensei he was sure this will be a piece of cake. "Ok shoot on, I bet I can answer them all" he boasted missing the small smile on Jiraiya's lips. "What does a shinobi do?" the first question surprised Naruto. On the face value this looked easy but his time with Kakashi told him there was something deep in it.

When he was but a child he would have said to fight bad guys, later he would have said do cool missions but his perception had changed a lot in time. On one hand he remembered the fourth hokage who sacrificed himself to stop kyuubi while the memory of Mizuki's betrayal was still too fresh. Minutes passed as his mind reeled on ideals against hard experience.

That was until Haku's words came back to him. "I believe only when a man fights to protect his precious persons he becomes truly strong" he recited in a soft voice as if feeling the presence of the ice user by him. "A shinobi fights to protect what he feels is precious to him" he said finally loudly. Jiraiya's smirk only grew bigger as he finally saw the man inside the boy. "Next question: do you think killing is justified?"

Naruto stopped for a moment, even in his short career his hands were stained with blood. Did he felt the bloodshed was justified, MIzuki deserved to die this much he was certain but what about the bandits what about Haku. "I…I don't know sensei?" he replied in a small voice his mind reeling never before had he truly imagined the results of his actions. Kyuubi was hated not because of his power because he turned half the village in to graveyard. He had been starved for affection all his life because he was an orphan would he knowingly doom others to the same fate.

"Confusing isn't it?" spoke the sage in our line of duty we have to kill and I myself have killed countless people I have fought in shinobi wars brat massacre the like of which can't be imagined. And for every justified death I found at least seven innocent die." Jiraiya's voice took a melancholy edge as he recalled the screams of innocent villagers as the fire and wind combo burned the whole village to ashes.

"So sensei what's the answer?" "To be truthful kid I have no idea but you pass." Jiraiya smiled at Naruto pulling out the large scroll hanging at his back "sign this scroll kid and do it with blood." Naruto furled the scroll only to find the two names one was of the pervy sage but the other he didn't knew. "Umm… Sensei, who is this Namikaze Minato?" he had a feeling he was supposed to know this name.

"Kid you are an idiot" Jiraiya replied "Minato is the 4th and my favorite student" he added after a small pause. Naruto felt his excitement grew really this old pervert taught the 4th hokage the one he admired most. "That's so cool sensei" he cried signing his name on the scroll and splattered a bit of blood on it. Surprised he saw the blood evaporated and a large toad of orange color almost as tall as he himself was appeared in a puff of smoke. "What a frog?" Naruto exclaimed sure he had seen summoned creatures before but he thought they would be cool like snakes or tigers. "That's not a frog you moron that's a toad. Naruto say hello to Gama san." Jiraiya spoke.

"Hello Uzumaki Naruto on behalf of the toads I welcome you" the toad spoke first scaring the blonde. "When did the animals learn to talk? The other creep didn't have any talking snakes." He questioned Jiraiya but it was Gama who answered, "we do speak Uzumaki san and I am sure while the snakes did not speak they could very well speak had they wished so." "Come on brat toads are truly awesome partners in battle how else do you think I earned the name of toad sage" Jiraiya laughed heartily his long mane of white hair vibrating along his laugh.

Naruto was not totally sold but he had read the 4th used toads in fight against Kyuubi and that was awesome in his dictionary. True some times when he felt lonely he hated the circumstances yondaime left him into but mostly he blamed his parents. "Tell me what to do sensei" he asked forcefully pushing away the depressing thoughts about his origins. He hid his distress well but not well enough to fool a legendary shinobi as Jiraiya his eyes narrowed but kept silence for then at least.

"Spill a drop of your blood on the ground and perform the boar, dog, bird, and monkey and ram seals in proper sequence. You have to find the correct amount of chakra yourself"

Naruto tore open the skin on his thumb slightly allowing the blood to drop on the ground before slowly going through the hand seals. He allowed the chakra to gather in his palms before slamming the palm on the ground a cloud of smoke appeared only to reveal a small toad of yellow color and a blue vest. "Yo" he waved his padded front foot "do you have some snacks I am hungry", resulting Jiraiya to explode in laughter. Naruto deadpanned at his teacher, "that was not very much useful."

"Hey do you have some snack or not" the small toad grumbled once more. Naruto wordlessly went to his backpack pulling out a small bag of chips he bought for lunch before handing a fistful to the small toad. "What's your name?" he asked holding back the chips. "Gamatatsu" the small toad replied before with one loud gulp devoured the chips. With a wave from his webbed foot the toad vanished.

Attempts after attempts only resulting in tadpoles or other small toads at least until desperately he pumped more chakra. "What the fuck happened?" a new more matured voice called out "pops you there?" Jiraiya forcefully stifled the urge to whistle he identified the new voice. "Hello Gamakichi how are you?" he spoke striding forward, as the newcomer waved at him cheerily.

Naruto glanced at the orange colored small toad with black vest, "hi there." "Yo bro, so you were the one to summon me" Gamakichi said heartily. "You need anything man pops might be looking for me" he asked after a while of chatting. "Nah its ok" Naruto agreed nonchalantly.

"Brat your chakra control sucks" Jiraiya commented as Naruto sat on the ground, "the amount of chakra you pumped should have been enough to summon at least one of the bigger ones." "Fuck then" Naruto cursed dejectedly sure he had large amount of chakra but by now he pumped almost every ounce of chakra he could spare. "Well I am sure I could teach you to improve your chakra control but it would take too much of time there might be another way" the toad sage spoke thoughtfully.

"I don't understand pervy sage,"

"A tailed beast's chakra is at least ten times more potent than any normal person's and this might be the only way for you to summon Gamabunta."

"Who is Gamabunta?" Naruto asked he never heard the name before. "Gamabunta is the toad boss and father to Gamakichi. I must warn you though don't make him angry." The last Uzumaki gave a nod in response as he called upon the kyuubi's chakra. Jiraiya watched in grim fascination as the whisker marks in his cheek grew thicker and darker the cerulean blue eyes become silted like an animal's.

"Summoning jutsu" the dual layered voice reverberated around the clearing a huge cloud of smoke appearing much larger than anything else. Naruto at first didn't realize where exactly he was but no sooner had the smoke cleared he found himself standing on a red hill. Wait red hill these things didn't exist. A loud noise quickly alerted him of his position. "**JIRAIYA WHY DID YOU SUMMON ME**?" the creature under him bellowed any other person would have fainted in such situation. Actually any sane person but Naruto never was the sanest of them. Fear for him was a thing he seldom felt and this was not the time for that. He curiously saw the creature a reddish toad with a black coat and a large pipe. The toad was comparable to the size of the kyuubi and for the first time he felt respect for his sensei.

But for the toad sage the things were not so positive, he knew the temperament of the toad boss and he was praying for Gamabunta to be in a good mood. The bellow quickly tossed his hopes straight down the drain. However the luck was on his side "hey I summoned you not pervy sage?" his apprentice yelled loudly from the toad boss's head. Jiraiya never really expected to feel glad to hear the thrice damned name but then he wouldn't expect the outcomes in most situations outside the battles as his old teammate could attest to.

Gamabunta did not believe his fucking eyes; no way could twelve years old summon him even for Jiraiya and Minato kid it took three or four more years. Never mind this brat looked like miniaturized copy of yondaime. "**WHO ARE YOU KID**?" he boomed in his loud voice while the kid stood unflinching even made a cheeky bow like the old pervert.

"Uzumaki Naruto at your service Gamabunta san" Naruto tried to keep the excitement out of his voice while inside he was dancing 'oh boy I bet the others will be so jealous'. "**Good kid at least you have the manners but brat I don't allow anyone to ride my head nor do I allow everyone to use me in battle" **the loud voice of the toad boss boomed the surrounding. "I don't get it I just summoned you so should not you serve me." Naruto had to shut his ears from the roar as the toad boss roared once more, "**GAMABUNTA SERVES NO ONE LIKE A MINION ONLY AIDS IN THE BATTLE OF HIS UNDERLINGS, AND YOU WILL BE LUCKY TO BE ONE." **

The Naruto of old would have argued but the lessons in life had made him humbler. He had his pride still but not the blind ego. He held his tongue rather waited on, "**I allow you to summon my brethren in battle but not me not unless you can prove yourselves to me." ** The judgment of the toad boss was sound and despite the protestations Naruto wisely kept shut as the hill sized toad returned to whence it came from.

"That went well" he commented sullenly the whole thing seemed like a failure now. "Actually it did brat what you just did was freaking impossible I was 16 when I did it hell even Minato was 16 when he did it and you just blew it in 12. Trust me kid what you achieved was no short of impossible well my great teaching skills did help though" there was something in the voice of the sage which brought the smile back to Naruto's face. "Now kid time to train some more are you ready?" "Bring it on sensei."

Behind the crystal orb Hiruzen felt tears welling in his eyes he had long been accustomed to see his students sad but finally Jiraiya looked happy after a long long generation. "Jiraiya you fool, all these years you stayed away from the one thing that could help you smile again and at least now I am sure I have chosen the right heir".

**PAGE BREAK**

Inoichi stared at the bubbling amber liquid in his glass, the bubbles creating and dying in an instant. 'How typical' he thought 'we live and we die all in a moment yet we hold on to the shattered remains of dream'. He rose the glass to his lips about to take a sip when he felt a foreign chakra assert dominance freezing his body.

"Shikaku don't do this" he said words slightly slurring, "let me drink". Shikaku Naara the leader of the shadow users felt the frown mar his already scarred face, "you already drank enough old friend, and I think you should return now". Shikaku loosened his hold on the shadow and the blonde man sagged in his seat, "join me" said he. There was something in his voice that sent an iron spike through Shikaku's heart.

"Remember the promise we made before we joined shinobi corps" Inoichi asked draining the glass in one go. Shikaku frowned but said nothing; he had no real idea what his blonde haired friend brought that long forgotten words to the memory. "How is she?" he asked in a low tone. Dry and hollow laugh was all the answer he got. "Is there no way?" Shikaku asked again his brain trying to find any way to save his goddaughter.

"The hospital stuff says unless she comes out of the trauma induced coma nothing can be done even then only Tsunade could help. As if that bitch would return I get it you lost your family in war so did I but this is worse…." The strain was too much and finally Inoichi broke down tears streamed down his face as his mind replayed her daughter's broken body fall down on the ground. "There may be a way" a new voice interrupted them from behind a voice laced with power a voice adapted to command. "Jiraiya sama what brings you here?" Shikaku asked bowing.

"I needed a drink anyway I think I can bring Tsunade back for your daughter" Jiraiya spoke joining the duo with a glass of sake in hand. "I will do anything you ask Jiraiya Sama" Inoichi was like a man given a new life. "Even betray Konoha" the toad sage asked his brow furrowing slightly. Shikaku could see where the sage was going with this and he hoped that his friend's love for his daughter didn't over shadow his love for the village. "No not that never that" Inoichi's response was the same he expected.

"I hoped so, Shikaku I am sure you know I am going to take the hat soon and I will need you two" Jiraiya said draining his cup in one go. "We are yours to command" Shikaku spoke not only for his friend but for the Ino Shika Cho trio, the smile grew brighter on the older man's face. "I have already sent anbu squads to look for her don't worry we will get her back."

Inoichi stared at the retreating back of the person who just gave him a new life. Jiraiya of the sages the true soldier of konoha a man shrouded in mysteries.

PAGE BREAK

Kakashi watched the sweat trail down Sasuke's body as he finished his thousandth lap around the clearing. The boy had exceeded his expectations and in this month Kakashi gave his all no more tardiness or lack of concentration. He had been passing on the legacy of the Uchiha to the Sasuke and there was only one final gift left only one more thing to pass on and then maybe he will die a happy man.

"Sensei can I take rest now" Sasuke was panting his entire body glistened with sweat the days had been nightmarish but at least he could feel himself getting stronger now he could perform several high ranking jutsus without being tired. 'Wait for me Itachi your life is mine and mine to take' he spoke in his mind the power he sought the power he needed and with it he will crush his brother. No the kin slayer, Itachi ceased to be his brother the night he slaughtered his family. "Yes I think you are now ready for the final gift" Kakashi said as his own pair of mismatched eyes locked with the blood red sharingan of the Uchiha heir.

He had been right the lightning affinity Sasuke possessed matched his own and thus his own legacy would survive in the world. Not many people knew the price his sharingan took on his body; his entire genetic code was hastily rewritten and lost the power to father a child ever. But then he would never be so much attached to a person he knew specifically what happened when he got close to someone.

The night was upon them and he watched as Sasuke fell asleep. This team was the best gift he had since the day Minato gave him his first puppy. All of them were so like his team it was as if being given a second chance and this time Kakashi was determined not to screw it up. He felt his sixth sense tingle as he felt several chakra signatures approaching the area. He stood still one hand lying on the kunai pouch and muscles stiff. Soon six figures became visible 'shadow clone jutsu' he whispered molding chakra and a solid clone appeared beside him.

"Halt" the six men at once stopped in their tracks as Kakashi dropped down from the tree behind them. "Senpai sorry to disturb" the one speaking had a feminine voice and a cat mask immediately alerting Kakashi of the speaker's identity. "What is the matter? I left anbu long ago now why are you here?" his voice still held bitterness he did knew festering in his heart. "Senpai boar and hound has been killed near the borders tiger is in some sort of coma" another one spoke this time even their years of training couldn't hide the slight timber of fear seeping inside. It disgusted Kakashi he trained them to be the best he led them through countless covert operations but he had never taught them to second guess themselves.

"And what do you want from me?" Kakashi's voice hid the contempt he felt. "Captain we need you to take a look…" cat couldn't finish her word as the temperature around the surrounding dropped suddenly. "I am no longer your captain I am sure you can recall" Kakashi's voice was sharp knife. "Captain we think it's Itachi" the last person with a rabbit mask spoke. Kakashi stiffened as the memories hit him back.

Nine years had passed since the day Kakashi first met Itachi Uchiha the genius of Uchiha clan only one who could be comparable to himself. He was serving the anbu for three years by then and already became some sort of black ops legend when the commander assigned the boy to him. Kakashi was the one who taught him the arts of silent killing the ropes of a black ops soldier. After Obito and Rin, Itachi was the first person who he had befriended. Itachi and Shisui two gems of Uchiha corps Kakashi trained himself along a team of ten new recruits. But that all changed when Shisui was murdered and the clan massacred. Kakashi felt a stab of betrayal at this incident. He hunted Itachi for six months to the point of obsession and that had resulted in his disqualification from anbu. Inoichi had helped him cope with the incident and allowed him to become once more a shinobi of elite skill. He had not been haunted by the ghost of Itachi until Roshi came to the village since then he was itching to face the traitor once more.

The time was short in his hands only two more days till the chunin exams only two more days to teach Sasuke the lightning blade. The choice was difficult he knew the request his former team was making was an unsanctioned one but despite of being angry at them he could not discount the fact he still felt responsible for them. "I will go but at least two of you must stay and keep an eye over Sasuke if Itachi is here then he may come hunting" he spoke at last before he moved with the team while cat and rabbit stayed back. Three hours later he reached the tent where he saw Ishiro Malachi the anbu operative code named tiger lying motion less his eyes wide open only the faint beating of the heart signaling the operative to be alive. Kakashi removed the head band revealing the swirling tomoes of sharingan to the world. He locked his sharingan with an open eye of Ishiro pouring chakra through the eyes willing to trace the chakra pattern flowing through his one time student. For a while nothing then there it was like a black miasma the unmistakable trace of Uchiha chakra in mangekyou mode. "he is gone" he whispered softly as the four people bowed their heads in respect to their fallen comrade, Kakashi drew a kunai from his pouch before almost gently cut the jugular vein and allowing the poor man the ultimate rest.

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Itachi Uchiha the killer of Uchiha clan the kin slayer stood motion less while a strange black and white plant like person was hanging in front of him from the ceiling of the cave while keeping half of his body still inside the cave. "What does leader Sama command of us Zetsu" Itachi asked a monotonous almost bored voice. The new being now identified as Zetsu smiled reveal pointy fangs "he **asks **you **to stand** **down now** **there **will be **an invasion **of ** leaf** after ** that **you are to **capture the yonbi". ** Zetsu spoke in a odd dual toned voice. Itachi's face remained impassive as he nodded and dismissed the other person.

The time had come for him to face his nightmares once more and Itachi Uchiha was more than ready for it.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: SOME WHAT OF A FILLER CHAPTER BUT IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS WERE LAIN IN THIS CHAPTER NOW CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHAT WAS THE PARAGRAPH SYMBOLIZING AND SOON ONE OF THE JOUNINS WOULD DIE CHOOSE THE ONE YOU WANT TO KILL EXCEPT Kakashi I have plans for him. See yeah guys later oh one more thing nine more reviews till century please guys don't let me down.**


	16. Chapter 16

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile._

_Previously: the final preparations were almost in place while the anbu found signs of Itachi nearby._

COUNTDOWN TO FIRE

The whole arena was packed with civilians and ninja alike. The chunin exam finalists all stood tall in a neat line while Sarutobi and the Kazekage looked at them critically. "All of you who stand before me here possess a much more chance of progressing on to the next rank than any other but to progress merely winning a fight will not be enough. We are ninja and as such we generally don't fight head on we fight from shadows and even the strongest shinobi can be downed with a single kunai or shuriken always remember that." Hiruzen's voice was not like Naruto remembered this was a veteran warrior not a kindly grandfather still his love or respect only grew.

"Interesting choice of words Hokage dono" the Kazekage commented offhandedly as took his seat beside the leader of leaf. "It was the truth Kazekage dono" Sarutobi replied inwardly expanding his chakra to act as the sensor. He never was the best sensor but he was good enough to detect everything in the arena. And then he felt it Jiraiya was close by a flicker of his chakra beside him in empty space before no trace remained. 'So you have perfected the technique finally ah Jiraiya kun' he thought and watched as he saw Genma walk to the centre. He missed Hayate the man was good and it was his mistake that killed him the last one of a great house. A week ago his body was discovered on a dump with his heart pierced by an extremely sharp blade. Swallowing the slight lump in his throat the sandaime concentrated on the arena.

PAGE BREAK

Kankuro flexed his neck his puppet still in his back as his opponent Akimichi Choji stood; the boy was fat and as such was likable to be slow. And as big as the boy was only more targets for him to hit. The countdown began as he tensed his muscles chakra flowing through the finger tips, "go" the proctor yelled before vanishing in a burst of smoke. Choji didn't even have the chance to move as several sharp swords flew at him from different angles. Kankuro knew to make the plan successful both his sister and he must be in top shape and he planned to do just that.

He attacked relentlessly while Choji could barely dodge his main strength now acting as his Achilles' heel. But still Kankuro made one mistake taking a konoha shinobi lightly history had proven it again and again and it did once more. Out of sheer desperation Choji did the only thing he did best. He pumped chakra throughout his body quickly "multi sized jutsu" he roared as his entire body grew to huge proportions and then began the next phase he drew his limbs within to resemble a ball. Kankuro swore loudly as he saw his weapons deflect off the rolling body. Helpless he did the only thing that came to mind; his trusted puppet crow met the charge of a desperate leaf genin head on.

The force behind Choji's attack was too much for any ordinary wooden object but too bad for the leaf genin crow was not any ordinary wooden construct. Made by Sasori of the red sands himself Crow symbolized the art of puppetry and seal making. The entire body was littered with runes making it harder than most of the steel shields and nothing short of a wind blade could cleave or crush it. Choji felt his momentum growing and just like a cannon ball fired from its mortar he hit the obstacle in his path. To his surprise the puppet didn't shatter as he had expected, it slid back true but held firm against his great bulk.

Kankuro felt sweat beading on his temples as he furiously pumped chakra to keep the defensive seals on crow's body active. 'Fuck off you fat ass' he cursed the Akimichi boy even as the toll was started to tire him. Thankfully it was then the big boy decided to pull back giving him space and time to breath. Kankuro held on crow with one hand while his left hand attached chakra strings with the fallen needles around the field. Once more he clashed against the fat konoha ninja but this time he had an ace in his hand. He allowed crow to be pushed back and with a motion from his left hand five senbon flew towards the Akimichi heir.

Choji realized the plan as soon as he saw the needles speeding towards him but this was too late for him to disengage and the needles pierced his body at different places. He could already feel his body numbing even the accelerated metabolism of his clan doing nothing to ease the poison. Faintly he heard Kankuro call to the proctor and the proctor shouting something and then everything went black.

Kankuro let out a sigh of relief as he saw the needles embed in to poor leaf shinobi. The needles were laced with a nerve toxin of high degree, as soon as the poison hits the blood stream it will fry his nervous systems and eventually send the victim to coma unless treated. Despite the effectiveness the poison was non lethal just the kind Kankuro preferred. He had to applaud the konoha shinobi as the boy struggled against the poison and crow's attacks for two minutes the sheer stubbornness of the boy kept him longer on his feet.

But even the determination couldn't change the fact that Choji was losing. Thus the first match of the finals went to the budding puppeteer from sands.

**PAGE BREAK**

She was actually gaining closer, even though the crying had reduced to mere whimpering. The sand dunes around her drained her energies but she refused to give up. Somewhere deep inside she knew she will have to reach the thing crying if she wanted to survive. Seconds turned to minutes even minutes faded in hours. She was close very close but something strange happened the sky became red as if dripping blood no wait it was actually dripping blood. A strange laughter rang around her as she crumbled down.

Somewhere near the edge of fire country a buxom blonde woman along with another brunette younger girl and a pig stopped in their track as they saw the four masked figures ahead of them. "Tsunade sama we are the sorry to disturb you but hokage Sama needs you back." The rat masked anbu was the first to speak. Tsunade Senju the princess of Senju clan and leaf village in whole frowned. For twenty years she had been away and now suddenly this summon. "If I don't want to go back then?" her tone was casual enough but words still challenging while the other girl took refuge behind her green robes. The anbu soldiers tensed at once while they were the elite none of them held the delusion that they would perish before a sannin.

"Please have a look at this scroll before deciding" rat spoke once more with his right hand extending a tightly bound scroll. Tsunade looked at the scroll although nondescript the real urgency lay in the color of the hokage's seal. Normally the seal is white and green but this time there was a red dot inside the final circle that comprised of leaf symbol. 'Code red' her mind supplied to her unbidden the scroll felt heavy in her hand. The crystal she wore in her neck felt like a chain of steel. She hated leaf, she hated shinobi life general the foolish wars that took everything from her but still konoha was her families legacy and she was loathe to let the blood flow through its streets.

"I need time to think" she spoke with a choked voice ghosts of past came to haunt her. Thankfully the anbu immediately vacated the area leaving only her pseudo daughter to witness her distress. Shizune quickly moved close gripping the arm of her visibly shaken mentor. Once back inside their temporary abode Tsunade allowed the emotions to show, her years in Konoha playing around with her grandfather. The days spent in laughter with her brother. Then the darkness came her father and then her mother even Nawaki her little brother the war claimed them all. She who had become the ultimate medic ninja by then watched in silence as one by one her loved ones fell, Sacrificed in order to satisfy the greed. That was why she had left, she hoped that Jiraiya would understand but apparently he also blamed her.

Shots after shots sake entered her body fruitlessly attempting to numb the pain. But today even the sake deserted her and left only a bitter aftertaste to her mouth. She had reached her decision, she would return once more. Jiraiya asked if she could give the village another chance for him and she truly couldn't find it in her heart to deny that request. True she never returned the love the toad sage felt for her but that didn't mean she didn't love him. It's just she was too afraid, afraid that her love would end up killing him the way it killed others. Finally draining the last residue of the alcohol in the bottle Tsunade stood up her decision made. "Shizune pack the bags. Let's go, we are going home" She muttered she didn't want to return but her duty and her love for the village compelled her to return.

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The fights continued further as Shikamaru faced the Hyuuga princess. In the stands Hiashi had to admit his first born was doing good fighting against a Naara had always been the weakness for Hyuuga. Ever since the draw was made Hiashi knew Hinata could not win he hadn't even trained her during this month rather concentrating on the younger girl and the safe keeping of clan. But he could not help feeling proud as in the arena Hinata countered almost every move the shadow user made. He was certain eventually the cunning mind of Naara will triumph but Hinata for the first time earned respect in his eyes. Her form and her determination showed the glaring mistake Hiashi and the clan elders made in neglecting the girl, he almost choked on the water when he saw the jutsu his daughter created herself.

He had to agree gentle step lion fist was an attack to be reckoned with although he supposed the attack could still be modified but the potential in that attack was important. He was shocked when he saw the attack actually changed the course of the shadow but sadly she was slowing down. 'Her chakra storage is not strong enough but that can be remedied in time' thought Hiashi even as his daughter was finally trapped in the shadow and forced to surrender.

Ultimately it was Naruto's turn to enter the arena in this one month his lust for vengeance had calmed down to a bubbling fury. His rage although lessened in intensity became much more dangerous. He gazed in to the pupil less eye of his opponent, Neji Hyuuga. He held no personal animosity towards the boy but this was a competition and he knew to reach Gaara he would have to defeat the boy.

Naruto assumed his own battle stance as the countdown began it was not any known style in fact Jiraiya had insisted that he discard any documented fighting style at all. This was simply what he adopted a mixed martial arts style where no rules applied. Neji analyzed the stance his opponent had adopted, his leg muscles were touting and he divided weight equally to both of them the chance that attack would come from the legs were less but a well trained shinobi like Guy sensei could use that as mere illusion. All things considered Neji initiated the attack a quick and straight open palm thrust with enough speed. Naruto simply dodged the attack by stepping back a step he regretted immediately as Neji pressed on ahead. Flurry of jabs and open palm strikes with surprising agility battered him or rather wanted to only if Naruto had not been as flexible as he was.

Naruto's face was the ultimate reflection of concentration as he dodged and blocked the moves of the Hyuuga prodigy with unbelievable skill. This entire month he had trained under not one but two of the greatest shinobis of the leaf and while he knew he had a lot of way to go the speed of Neji's attacks were not even a problem for him at this moment. He gathered wind chakra in his hand forming a short gauntlet of sort. The technique was far from complete but Naruto hoped it will be enough.

Neji was feeling frustrated as the blonde blocked yet one more of his jabs with the elbow. Even when his attacks hit the blonde just shrugged it off as if nothing had happened. His speed increased as his frustration increased the byaakugan flaring into life. Dodging under one of the high kicks Neji swept his feet from underneath the blonde but the boy had expected it and a solid punch hit him in the belly knocking his wind out. Unwillingly a grunt of pain escaped his mouth it felt like someone hit him with a sledge hammer infuriating him even further. Naruto couldn't even believe what happened next, happy for the momentary victory he stepped a bit closer and that was a costly mistake. "Big mistake Uzumaki" Neji spoke "you are in my field of divination eight trigram sixty four palms".

Naruto was littered with uncountable number of blows closing off his chakra pathways. A small amount of blood fell out of his mouth as his leg gave up under him. "You could never win against me. You who have been branded by the fate to be a loser cannot change that. I pity you fools you and lee you think hard work can overcome the barriers fate has dictated how ignorant of you. A man cannot win against fate even if the main branch of Hyuuga is weaker than us we will be sacrificed to save them just like they sacrificed my father." Neji's voice was laced with venom but it was not directed towards the blonde but towards the very clan he belonged from towards his family.

Naruto felt his ire grow as Neji continued to belittle him, slandered his hard earned prowess and fate he dared to speak about fate. "Heh… you are a fool... if you think fate decides what your future will be" even speaking seemed painful still he didn't care, "I am Naruto Uzumaki and I don't give up this is my ninja way" he shouted finally as a burst from Kyuubi's chakra flooded the pathways. In spite of himself Neji was impressed he had never seen the eight trigrams fail before "what do you know about fate what do you about living under the curse of a seal" he shouted back. Unwittingly installing the kinship with the blonde as his hands tightened immediately, "multi shadow clone jutsu" Naruto yelled and a huge cloud of smoke covered the entire area in smoke. When the smoke cleared Neji along with everyone present in the arena did a double take the whole arena was full with orange with blondes. As if following some unspoken command they descended upon Neji. Neji gritted his teeth hard he was being pushed absolutely to the limit with every clone that he destroyed a punch or kick would hit him. There was no way he could break out of this without using his trump card. 'So be it Uzumaki you pushed my hand' he thought grimly before spinning in 360 angle all the while exhaling chakra from his chakra pathway. Naruto gasped as a bright blue dome made of chakra came to life destroying his clone army in an instant.

Neji panted as he cancelled the kaiten he knew he had made a big decision now either the main branch will congratulate him on a job well done or else he will suffer… a lot. But his opponent didn't give him a second's respite as a demonic claw made of chakra slammed in the place he had been standing a second earlier. Neji rushed in he needed to be close to defeat the younger boy but as he found out Naruto had enough sense to stay away. For the next five minutes Neji could not count how many times he had thanked his team mates for honing his reflexes to the level they currently were as he dodged barrages of kunai and shuriken and many times flurries of kicks and punches. Unfortunately for himself he had to use kaiten twice more and now he was almost depleted even keeping his eyes activated was proving too taxing.

Naruto watched in a detached manner as the Hyuuga stumbled in his step he could see the boy running low on chakra while he himself could still fight on. His chakra source slightly depleted could still keep up for another six minutes in this rate but he was getting bored he wanted to end it quickly. He molded his chakra as he moved through the hand seals before exhaling a large amount of chakra mixed wind shaped like a twister, "wind style: twister shot" he called out. Neji gathered his last amount of chakra and started rotating once more but this time kaiten was not fully charged and the wind jutsu managed to break the barrier. Though severely dampened the attack hit Neji with the intensity of a solid punch something he could not handle at his current condition collapsing down at last spent.

"Winner of the match Uzumaki Naruto" proctor's loud voice reverberated around the stadium. The result shocked the crowd they had come to see a failure be crushed by a prodigy instead they were greeted by the rise of one they hated one they belittled. In the podium Sarutobi masked the happiness he felt with calm indifference his pseudo grandson had grown and he was happy that the new leaves were blooming just as Hashriama Senju had dreamt of. 'As long as there is one single breath in my body I will not let harm come to this dream, this I swear Orochimaru' Sarutobi Hiruzen swore silently he had a hunch that he will not live to see the sun rise tomorrow. Gaara felt a strange excitement build up in him here was someone who could challenge him who could make him feel alive he longed to taste his blood. In the stands Baki silently signaled the fellow sand jounins the time was nearing their forces near the border of leaf would have to mobilize soon. But unnoticed by everyone around twenty civilians sat up a bit straighter pawns were in place and soon the war will happen and there will be only one victor.

The next match was between Sasuke and Gaara and once more Naruto felt fear seeping in his heart quickly making his way to the Uchiha he whispered, "be careful Sasuke what you face is something beyond ordinary shinobi please don't get over confident." But an indignant grunt was all he received in answer, cursing the stubbornness of his friend Naruto settled down near the rest of Konoha eleven now that Ino was in hospital. Surprisingly for him Shikamaru was the first one to greet him, "Yo" the pine apple head lazily greeted him followed by everyone else except Sakura who not surprisingly focused only on the Sasuke. Smiling and talking to them made him feel lighter but still he held fear for his friend. Suddenly a small voice broke his stupor "you... were really…great out there Naruto Kun" glancing sideways he saw the blushing face of Hyuuga heiress. "Oh hi Hinata you fought well too. Just your luck you faced that lazy ass" he spoke jovially his tone hiding the small unease in the back of his mind, he couldn't point on it but there was something in the surroundings that made him nervous.

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Yugao Uzuki had been one of the finest anbu operatives of hidden leaf; she had joined the ranks with another talented swords man Gekkou Hayate. While she had the luck to serve under son of white fang the other kid was sent to work for Ibiki. She didn't like him that much; to be truthful she was envious of his prowess with a sword. She knew she was more than able to keep up with almost any swordsman in the leaf but there was a grace about that boy's fighting she never possessed and she envied that. Surprisingly Hayate never cared; the boy in real life was exact opposite of his sword style. He was sweet and naïve.

But then something called fate brought them closer, during a recon mission in Iwa they had been found and for the first time the two swords fought as one. That was when their friendship started hanging out in each other's house sharing drinks and she didn't even know when her feelings had matured in to love. They were drunk when she kissed him for the first time and even later she had always been the first to initiate something in their relationship. Surprisingly one of leaf's finest and battle hardened woman started to feel detached from the duty she loved her village but whenever she slew someone she felt like she was taking away the love from them the love she was lucky to have. She didn't care that Hayate was sick she had planned to leave anbu and be with him more. This year the kyuubi festival would have been when she decided to propose him knowing the man would never do so now fearing for his illness but her dreams and hopes they were gone now.

She wept freely when she had found the body of her lover heart pierced by a sharp blade. She had been in enough missions to sand to know what attack can cause that damage and she swore by the blood of her lover that sand will pay and her time of waiting will soon be over.

"Cat can you hear me" the gruff voice of firefly echoed in her ears, "loud and clear commander squad three in position." She replied back stationed near the border of leaf her squad would take the full brunt of the invasion she knew in here the chance of her entire squad dying was more than rest of the others combined but she didn't really gave a damn. Her own life didn't really matter now that her love was gone only thing that mattered was vengeance and service to her home. Anbu were not supposed to show emotions but that didn't mean they didn't feel emotions they who suppressed their emotions only felt the emotions much more intently.

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Sasuke revised the strategy once more in his mind, for this entire month he had trained extensively to defeat this boy. He didn't really want to believe it but when in prelims Gaara crushed Ino he felt a shiver of fear. He wanted to defeat this boy to erase that humiliation he felt to prove to himself he was strong and was becoming strong enough to fulfill his destiny. The proctor was about to begin the countdown when Gaara spoke first, "your eyes… they are same". "Same as what sand boy" Sasuke replied his tone mocking hiding the slight intrigue he felt. "Same as mine… you too lust for battle to prove your existence and your blood shall sate my thirst" Gaara's eyes glinted with a maddening lust and sands swirled around him giving him a much more deadly look.

As soon as the countdown ended spears of sands shot at the Uchiha. And then came in play the incredible speed Sasuke achieved in this month long training phase dodging the spears with ease he shortened the distance. Gaara was shocked when a punch easily moved past the pillar of sand that rose out of ground and hit him in the face. Stumbling back Gaara watched in disbelief as he glared at the first person to hit him after so many years. He raised his hand as this time countless spears of sand shot at least twice as fast but even then Sasuke dodged them but this time he didn't try to come close instead let loose a ball of fire which collided harmlessly with the wall of sand. The heat from the fire jutsu fizzled harmlessly; Sasuke gritted his teeth as a shuriken made of sand missed him by a hair's breadth as sharingan managed to pick out the trajectory perfectly. Gaara sent out a wave of sand intending to crush his opponent but with a burst of speed Sasuke jumped over that attack and his heel slammed in Gaara's chest. Sasuke expected to see blood splatter on the ground but only saw cracks forming on his face. A slight hesitation once more and Sasuke paid for that guilt with blood as a fist made of sand hit him throwing him back. "More give me more make me feel alive" Gaara yelled in a psychotic manner his rage expanded as sand swirled around him forming a dome while an eye appeared on the air.

"What is that?" Shikamaru asked as he felt the very air around him saturate with a terrible power a deadly hunger that paralyzed them held them to the ground well all of them except Naruto. "Something that is beyond our control" he replied mysteriously. Kakashi and the jounins tensed as they recognized the tailed beast's chakra being built up. "Take positions Asuma you go with Genma and the others Guy you stay with me" Kakashi said his book in his pocket lone visible eye colder than ice "today we fight we fight for the village we love." As blurs Asuma and others vacated the area leaving only the two strongest jounin of leaf.

In the arena a loud chirping of birds began as Sasuke started running towards the sphere his left hand encased in lightning chakra. "Kakashi don't tell me you taught a genin your own attack an a-ranked assassination jutsu" Guy was shocked "it was irresponsible of you." Kakashi didn't bother replying he had his own reasons and his conscience was clean that was all he cared about. Sasuke ran towards the sphere with his full speed dodging the numerous spikes of sand shooting at him his blood line blazing. With an almighty roar he thrusted his hand forward, the attack that was said to cut through lightning itself cut through the sand defense like butter and a scream surrounded the area. The sphere of sand fell apart and revealed Gaara but he was transformed, his eyes were not golden and more menacing his hand was almost like a claw made of sands a large tail made of sand flickered behind him. Sasuke was thrown back like a rag doll he could feel his ribs break from the impact the wound that his attack made on Gaara's only human looking arm dissolved as more of his body started transforming.

In the stands Baki whispered to the sand siblings, "take him to the centre of leaf destroy anything that comes to your path". And just then feathers started falling from the sky. Hundreds of sand and sound shinobi were making their way across the forest that surrounded konoha only to see a large wall of mud appear in front of them. In the box where the kages were sitting a loud explosion took place before the leaf anbu crumpled to ground. But before the attacker could attack hokage he was shredded to pieces as out of nowhere Jiraiya came to view in his hand holding a blue sphere of chakra.

"Surrender Orochimaru I know you are there" his voice held only hatred but the Kazekage smirked as he removed the robes to reveal himself. Orochimaru the serpent sage faced the man who once was his brother in all but blood. A purple ring of fire surrounded the two of them while Sarutobi Hiruzen ducked a fierce sword strike from a still masked sand ninja. He blazed through hand seals to release a large fire dragon but the other shinobi only raised a hand as air around him condensed to form a water dragon. Even as two equally powerful attacks collided together nullifying each other. "Sensei" Hiruzen whispered as there was only one shinobi in the history who had enough power to create water out of nothing.

Author' note: **the fight for konoha begins next chapter SOON ONE OF THE JOUNINS WOULD DIE CHOOSE THE ONE YOU WANT TO KILL EXCEPT Kakashi I have plans for him. See yeah guys later oh one more thing five more reviews till century please guys don't let me down.** Thanks to everyone who have reviewed I hope I get the five required review this chapter


	17. Chapter 17

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_ I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile._

_Previously: the fight for leaf began as Gaara began transforming._

**INTO THE FIRE**

As the feathers started falling from the sky the civilians and most of the genins fell unconscious, leaving only twenty conscious civilians and two genins awake. "Slaughter them all" one of the 'civilian's yelled drawing katana from his robes Hinata and Shikamaru the only two conscious genins felt their blood go chill. "Hinata awaken the others I will hold them off" Shikamaru yelled as he molded his chakra to perform the shadow bind technique. Shadow sped along the stadium with incredible speed holding one of the civilians in place but he could not branch of his chakra allowing the rest to descend upon him like pack of wild dogs.

Shikamaru gulped as he saw his own death approach rapidly but before the katana could pierce him the attackers froze and a much more matured voice announced, "Shadow bind technique successful". "Thanks dad" Shikamaru yelled at his father who just saved his neck. Shikaku grinned holding off the nineteen enemy shinobi with ease, chaos reigned in the area as sand and leaf jounins collided again and again. Blood splattered on his face as Asuma drove his trench knives through the bodies of enemy shinobi. He was worried about his dad but he had a duty to do and his rage drove him through the ranks of enemy shinobi. He blocked an overhead slash from a sand ninja while another slash cut through his protective gear wounding him but before the man could do any more damage. Genma turned the man in to pincushion with his senbons.

Asuma along with Genma and Raido was heading towards the center of the town where he was sure the attack would be concentrated upon. A sudden tremor in the ground was the entire warning signal he had as the road exploded in several places throwing up debris at them, saved only by their quick reflex the leaf jounins looked in horror as a forty feet high snake glowered at them. "Team move forward I will take care of the garden hose" Asuma spoke as he tightened his grip on the trench knives wind chakra running along the length.

Raido and Genma jumped down as they fended off attacks from three suna ninja, "we can't hold on much longer find Atsui and get his ass here" Genma cried as he saw Izumo slay a sound ninja dressed as a civilian. "Got it" the gate guard shouted ducking under a katana slash and drove his own kunai deep in the enemies' neck. Izumo loved fighting he felt alive after years of guarding the gate bored and distracted, finally he was having a chance to feel the adrenaline rush and he loved it absolutely. He deftly blocked another kunai slash from a sand ninja but this time the kunai was wind chakra imbued cutting through his own kunai like butter leaving him with a shallow gash along his chest but before the sand ninja could follow his attack a kunai from further down the stadium pierced his skull.

Naruto had also fallen asleep when the feathers started to fall, but then Hinata had shaken him awake now he was pissed. "Shadow clone jutsu" he yelled as hundreds of solid clones came to existence. Some of the clones jumped down to secure the unconscious Uchiha while the rest simply attacked the enemy ninja in sight. Two of his clones ran towards a ninja with the sound insignia only to be dispelled when the man cut through them without blinking but a dozen more quickly took their place. Skilled though the enemy was Naruto was no slouch one clone moved ahead and predictably the man destroyed the clone with one good punch. The move became his last move as blinded by the smoke he failed to see when ten kunai pierced his body from different sides.

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But the real Naruto was far from the stadium he ran towards the sand siblings. He had failed to save Ino but he would not let Gaara harm anyone else this entire month he had trained to face Gaara and now he was willing to put himself to test. Shukaku's chakra acting as a beacon to his senses, he jumped from roof top to rooftop as he headed steadily towards the more populated area of the village and at once the enemies plan became clear. It didn't matter if Gaara failed the collateral damage would kill dozens if not hundreds of shinobi and Naruto refused to let it happen. Kyuubi's fiery chakra flowed through the pathways as he moved through the hand seal sequence, "wind style: great break through" with the added boost from the tailed beast chakra the jutsu was stronger than he imagined. Temari was the first to notice the attack heading towards them she unfurled her great battle fan but the force ripped the fan from her and threw her back. She hit through the wall of a house and fell unconscious.

Kankuro also faced the same fate as the wind thrashed him against a tree and knocked him down. Gaara was hit full force but he simply flipped down even after being forced back cushioned by his sand. 'Note to self blunt attacks don't work on Gaara' Naruto thought as he landed on the tree branch facing Gaara. Right now there was only one plan and that was to take this fight further away from here. "Uzumaki, mother craves your blood and this time she will not be denied" Gaara roared however Naruto only smirked and turned tail, the sound of destruction following him told him he was successful in luring the crazed genin and now to finish what he started.

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Death reigned supreme in the arena warm blood of both leaf and the invading village ninjas painted the steps red but Kakashi had seen worse he had done worse things than this. He blocked a kunai strike with his own before driving his other kunai in to the attacker's throat. Red liquid bubbled out as the man tried to breathe desperately but failed. Kakashi had already moved on to his next opponent even before the man could realize what was happening he cut through them, lighting powered blades cutting through muscles bone and clothing like butter. His sharingan was swirling madly in his eye socket; he searched for opponents for a minute when he noticed Izumo in trouble with the accuracy of an expert marksman his thrown kunai took out the threat. A sudden shift in wind pressure alerted him of the incoming attack and a perfectly timed substitution saved him from the wind blade Baki had thrown at him.

Baki tensed as he blocked the left hook Kakashi threw at him, this man was a legend and Baki knew as good as he was he could not win this fight. Still he refused to give up soundlessly another wind blade formed in his hand and he swung the blade with all his might intent on severing the damned silver haired head off the body. However he had hoped too easily as Kakashi caught the arm by wrist and a quick roundhouse kick greeted Baki. This time Baki didn't bother blocking merely using the momentum of the attack to create some distance all the while moving through hand seals. "Wind style: hurricane wave" he called out as a wave of chakra laced wind shot out destroying everything in the path. But his relief was short lasted as a solid uppercut knocked him back and Kakashi jumped out of the ground. Both of them knew killing the other would be a big blow to the village and they were out for blood. Two elite jounin both of them kage level one wind manipulator and the other lightning cutter, as if following some unspoken command Baki and Kakashi rushed at each other wind blade forming on Baki's hand while the lightning chakra concentrated on Kakashi's palm. In a speed that no normal eye can track the two shinobi clashed with each other. Kakashi stumbled as blood flowed freely from his wound, the wind blade had cut his chest deeply but he will survive. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about Baki Kakashi's raikiri cut his body in to half and as the body parts fell down only a look of shock remained.

Guy kicked another sand ninja in the chest caving his ribcage and killing the man instantly. Bodies of sand ninja lay in heaps around him as he scanned the area. Pride surged in him as he saw the genins stopping any foreign ninja from coming near the civilians. Lee was probably on his second gate by then but Guy felt no reason to worry as long as the konoha shinobi worked together very few power could break them. He landed near a panting Kakashi "well my eternal rival it seems the stadium is secure". "I know Guy I just received a plea for reinforcement from the north gate someone there is single handedly slaughtering our entire squad" Kakashi replied popping a painkiller in the mouth.

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Almost thirty chunin lay dead as a lone robed figure stood like a silent sentinel. Wooden spikes impaled the men in green flak jackets splattering blood and gore everywhere. Ibiki watched the man from afar but he didn't go close he had a very bad hunch about the man, Aoba, Shibi and Hiashi landed beside him. "Who is this man? The chakra level is unbelievable they seem more than Naruto and he is the jinchuriki" Aoba spoke out loud as crows flocked beside him cawing nervously, Ibiki frowned the battle was going badly for them, outnumbered three to one Konoha shinobis fought with every fiber of their body but they were falling back. The new devilry from Orochimaru turned back the tide as huge snake summons appeared right in the middle of the village engaging half of the bulk of their shinobi army and then this man thankfully the Sarutobi, Hyuuga and Yuuhi clan still held the walls strongly. "Ibiki san this is bad news this is no living enemy." Hiashi seemed nervous "I have only heard of this technique but I am sure of it this is impure world resurrection and we face the shodaime hokage". Ibiki felt his blood go dry as he realized the implications. "Contact Hokage sama immediately" he ordered.

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Naruto dodged another barrage of sand shuriken before landing one solid haymaker on Gaara. The new transformation had cancelled off his automatic sand defense but this time he was much more vicious. Clones after clones dispelled as Gaara threw sand bullets everywhere the only way to damage him seemed to be counter attacking. Naruto gritted his teeth two could play this game as another batch of hundred clones charged Gaara. Spikes of sand clashed with wind chakra charged kunai; an exploding kunai flew through all this clashes before embedding deep into the right claw of the demonic beast that was now Gaara.

Naruto grinned but the explosion wiped out the smile off his face as another loud roar tore the veil of silence off the area. Sand gathered around him forming a larger body now it was shukaku the one tailed beast that faced Naruto. Gaara sat atop the tailed beast's head his body half buried within sand. "Come on Uzumaki show me the power make me feel alive." Naruto could hear the Kyuubi growling within him the vile chakra of kyuubi flooded his system even without his calling and a shroud of chakra forming around him a fiery tail flickered in the air just like the sand tail of shukaku. "Yes that's the power I wanted to see" Gaara roared with laughter "now I can fight with my full power" his hands slipped in to a single hand seal. "Sand spear" a large spear of sand rose of the ground before rushing at Naruto who responded by channeling wind chakra through his arm "wind style: twin beast tearing claw" the large demonic wind claws shattered against the spear. Naruto jumped backwards to dodge the attack "is this your limit Uzumaki then I will crush you and I will crush your village like I crushed that blonde bimbo. Their bloods will set me free will make me alive" Gaara's psychotic grin got bigger when a loud growl resonated from the front as the dust cloud settled down. Several chakra arms shot of the cloak with impressive speed Gaara responded with a barrage of sand shuriken but this time the chakra arms tore through the shurikens two of them got hold of his shoulders. "Stay away from my village" Naruto roared as he threw the boy- monster in to the trees. Gaara crashed to the ground flying through at least a dozen trees. "Why do you fight for others Uzumaki? You are like me and yet unlike me what sets you apart" Gaara yelled he was surprised even now the boy could damage him.

Naruto jumped to the side as sand spikes began erupting from the ground. "I fight for them because they are the reason I am sane they are the reason I am not a murderous monster and for them I can and will crush anyone you want to see the power very well I will show you power." he roared back as wind chakra focused on the chakra arms forming a clawed gauntlet. "wind style: storm punch" he roared as a dozen chakra arms shot out, Gaara blocked the first two with his sand but the rest hit him and for the first time he felt fear as even in this mode he coughed out blood.

"I don't understand I fought for myself I destroyed all who dared to try to destroy me yet you injure me. I WILL NOT BE DENIED" Gaara yelled "playing possum technique". A terrible sand storm tore through the forest clearing destroying everything leaving only a barren land. "**FINALLY I AM FREE**" Naruto was alarmed as he felt the new voice. No longer was he facing a jinchuriki this time it was the tailed beast it was who the opponent was. The chakra cloak fizzled out as Naruto lost the ability to maintain the cloak further. "**SO IT WAS YOU WHO PUSHED THE WEAKLING IN RELEASING ME" **shukaku said his voice filled with maddening blood lust "**I WILL PAY YOU WITH KINDNESS YOUR DEATH WITH SWIFTNESS". ** Naruto gritted his teeth as desperation seeped through his body pores swiping off the blood from one of the numerous wounds that he sported he flashed through the required hand seals before poring every bit of his chakra in to the summoning jutsu. "**I FORBADE YOU TO SUMMON ME" **Gamabunta roared from within the smoke, "I know that Gamabunta san but I needed your help" Naruto shouted back. It was then the toad boss laid his eyes on the enemy he was facing. 'like father like son this family just can't stay without picking fight with tailed beasts' Gamabunta thought his grip on his tanto tightened. Shukaku glared at the newcomer before he exhaled a large sphere of wind chakra "wind style: wind bullet". Gamabunta channeled chakra to his flippers as he sprang high above the wind attack. Naruto tried to hold on as best as he could as the huge toad danced around the wind shots with surprising agility before slashing with the sword. The sword with the momentum of a five ton toad cut through the sand armor but it could not come clean as sand quickly resealed the wound.

"**NOW YOU JUST MADE ME MAD"** Shukaku growled before mouths appeared all over his body and he exhaled countless bullets of wind chakra. Naruto was awed at the speed of the large toad but even then he was aware no speed could dodge this number of shots, so he did what he did best. Thousand of clones came to life all of them using the gale palm at once.

Gamabunta had to accept this brat was good no he was beyond good. As soon as the wind attacks died down he shifted to attack, "water style: toad water gun" he spewed water from his mouth with the force of a large hydro canon the water attack punched through the shukaku's chakra hardened skin dissolving the right side but within seconds it reformed and this time shukaku started gathering chakra in his mouth. "This is bad brat if this attack hits it will vaporize us and the city behind we need to awaken the host" he whispered. "Got it boss get me closer" Naruto called out. And Gamabunta jumped high once more this time when he was above the damned raccoon's head Naruto cancelled the chakra holding him to the toad. Like an arrow released from the bow he fell towards the lump on shukaku's head where Gaara was sleeping. He pulled his fist back as he neared and with an almighty shout he threw the punch with all of his strength. The force uprooted Gaara from his position and slammed him on to ground. Gamabunta smirked as he saw the attack fizzle out and the shukaku cry in pain before breaking in tiny fragments. Naruto was breathing hard as he stood straight every bit of his body ached and the boy the ichibi jinchuriki lay before him. Gaara was afraid he had lost even when he had released the beast, the blonde had defeated him and now he could kill him. It was then Gaara realized he was afraid of dying. Naruto took a step forward but a wind blade cut the ground just in front of him. The rest of the sand siblings were back, Temari pulled back her fan attempting to release another attack if Naruto took another step forward and Kankuro faced the toad boss. Kankuro was scared the huge toad looked like it could cleave both him and crow in one slash but he still held his ground. "Don't take a step forward if you want to live you will not hurt Gaara any more" Temari shouted at Naruto who only grinned. "You know Gaara I wouldn't have killed you we are too much alike that is scary. You are what I could become if not for one person. I was hated as well beaten abused ignored. I hated them back as well. It's the loneliness that hurts and I wanted to hurt them back but then I found someone who would care for me. Someone who didn't care about the kyuubi jinchuriki, someone who cared about Uzumaki Naruto, the orphan, the class clown. Iruka- nii he was not my blood but he loved me like a brother and he died protecting me it was then I swore that I will protect my loved ones in return as long as there is breath in my body I will not let my friends die. I am Naruto Uzumaki I am the protector of leaf." His voice was true and passionate so honest that even without meaning to Temari lowered the fan. "Is it true then you are strong because you have someone to fight for" Gaara wheezed out painfully "I wish I had someone like your brother someone who wouldn't fear me but love me but my father hates me he sent assassins after me and my siblings they fear me and hate me. The darkness is the only company I have". His deepest regret and fear Gaara bared it all.

Naruto fixed his glance with the kunoichi on the branch her eyes spoke of shame and regret. "You know Gaara I don't think you are right your siblings do care enough to challenge me even when I have beaten you and plus I will be your friend. We jinchurikis have to stick together you know." He grinned before calling out to Temari "oi princess I think you three should leave now before it's too late".

Naruto watched as the three left as a family before turning to the toad boss, "thanks Gamabunta-san you were awesome". "you weren't too bad yourself kid proud to have you as my summoner now hop on we have still fights to fight" Gamabunta grunted out "you got it boss" Naruto yelled.

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Sasuke flashed through the hand seals before he exhaled another large fire ball towards the twenty feet high python that blocked the path with agility belying its girth the snake dodged the attack before lashing out with its tail. Sasuke cursed as he saw the rapidly approaching appendage lightning chakra filled his kunai and with a quick slash the tail was detached from the body. The snake hissed in pain distracted and Tenten capitulated on the chance and a hail of kunai made the snake the largest pincushion ever seen, "we need to hurry" Sasuke grunted he was getting exhausted and the shelter was still far from there. He stood as van guard while Tenten and Hinata guarded the flanks Shikamaru and Shino providing the rear guard he was not too sure about lee though the boy had splintered off the group and right now he had bigger problems to deal with than him. Sasuke could feel exhaustion trying to take hold of his body.

"LOOK OUT" the shout alerted Sasuke but it was too late a heavy blow hit him in the leg he could feel his body tremble and he fell down. There were three of them in total large at least two man tall puppets, this was not some amateur puppeteer he had defeated in the forest of death these were the real deal. Three exploding kunais shot out from behind him as the genins tried to form a line. The middle puppet opened its mouth and shot out kunais as well blocking the kunais Tenten threw. "You guys stay back they are more experienced than we are" Sasuke said his mind in overdrive trying to find at least one plan that will ensure the genins escape the place relatively unharmed. His ribs still ached from the blow Gaara dealt the battlefield painkillers could only do so much.

"Sasuke, Shikamaru says he has a plan but you will have to keep one puppet busy for a while we shall come to your aid as soon as we can" Tenten whispered in his ear before letting loose a hail of weapons with accuracy unexpected the weapons found their mark but failed to penetrate the tough armor of the puppets. Sasuke frowned as he tried to think the possible outcomes he knew Shikamaru was smarter than he and now he had to trust on that fabled brain. He dashed at the puppet he felt to be of the strongest puppet operated by a scarred sand ninja in jounin garb. His kunai slashed at the puppet lightning chakra flowing through the blade, the blade clanged as the sound of metal hitting metal reverberated the area. The puppet drew his right hand letting a spiked mace fly towards the Uchiha. Sasuke dived to the side narrowly evading the chained ball of death. He rolled around gaining some distance but at the same time letting loose a moderately sized fireball. The ball of flame collided with the puppet releasing a lot of smoke something the puppeteer didn't clearly expect. A loud chirping of birds filled the area as lightning chakra condensed in the palm of Sasuke's hand. He charged at the puppet dodging the rain of projectiles, the lightning cutter cut through the metal and wood with ease but the fight was not over as immediately two new puppets attacked him. One shaped like a bird and the other shaped like a turtle.

Sasuke ran in a zigzag pattern narrowly dodging the metal feathers of the bird like puppet. He could not fight against two of these at once, 'if I take out the bird then the turtle should be easy so far he has only demonstrated something like a wind cannon on the negative side I don't know how long can I even stay on my foot' Sasuke thought going through the hand seals to bring out chidori once more he knew that by doing this he would be putting even more strain on upon his already dwindling chakra supply. The sand ninja alerted at once as the lightning user charged at him once more, he was ready to dodge and counter but the boy changed directions at the last second. Instead of attacking he used the momentum to jump and in a surprise move cut of a wing of his treasured crane.

Sasuke panted now he was dry on chakra and too tired to even move, spots danced before his eyes as he staggered on his spot. The puppeteer looked absolutely murderous. "Die leaf scum" he yelled as the turtle like puppet opened its mouth wide to release three more cannons. Sasuke gulped he was sure he could not survive such an attack but luck favored him and the sand jounin froze in his spot held tightly by the shadow bind of Naara heir. A swarm of black insects descended on the helpless man. Sasuke watched in a deep satisfaction as the man cried in pain and horror as slowly Shino's bugs drained the life off the poor soul. "About time you slowpokes showed up" he spat at them rubbing at his neck. Not noticing the fading marks of the seal.

Suddenly a building in front of them shattered as a huge serpent reared its head the genins tensed at once but they didn't need to worry as the snake split off from the middle and stepping over the dead carcass Asuma Sarutobi walked out, he was mostly unharmed just little bit of tears in his uniform. Shikamaru let out the breath he was holding trying to think a plan to counter the new threat with his biggest heavy hitter so low on juice, "sensei" he called out in relief. Asuma was surprised he really hadn't expected to see the rookie genins in the middle of such a devastated battle field. The surrounding was filled with remains from snakes some broken puppets and no less than six sand shinobis' dead body. Whistling lightly Asuma clapped, "you guys did superb but now I must order you to head for the bunkers, let the battle hardened shinobis fight". "I know sensei we were heading there but we are low on chakra and have injured with us" Shino began monotonously but Asuma cut him off, "okay then follow me".

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Gamabunta was having fun his tanto slashed open the throat of another snake summon, already at least fifteen of them had died by his sword and he had his choice of the skin to make his wallet of. Naruto bless the kid, he had not have this kind of thrill for around a decade and Gamabunta got to admit he still retained his skill. Although very young this summoner had a lot of potential and Gamabunta was sure he will bring honor to his clan. "Boss head for the hospital I want to make sure it's safe" Naruto yelled above the noise of the battle ensuing all around him. The huge toad chief grunted in response before jumping towards the distance pointed by his summoner.

Naruto was tired but he knew he could not rest not till he was certain Ino was out of danger. As he neared the hospital he could sense the kyuubi growling inside for some strange reason. Never before the kyuubi had acted this way but he couldn't afford to waste his time waiting for that. The doorway to the hospital was filled with corpses most of them sound shinobi and a few leaf shinobi. Raido and Genma stood near the gates; both of them bore some scratches and nicks but overall looked no worse for wear. Genma's eyes widened as he saw the toad boss in Konoha after nearly an age of men and the figure on top of the large toad was no less surprising, "Naruto what are you doing here?" he enquired, "all the genins were to report in the bunker under the hokage tower" he would have said more but Raido cut him off. "Uzumaki did you summon the toad boss?" his voice was all businesslike. Naruto nodded in response. "Can you summon more like him?" Raido hid his excitement if this worked the snake summons could be countered back already too many had fallen battling the summons of the traitorous sannin and any more loss of life the outer walls will be lost as well.

Naruto frowned he was tired and he didn't think he could summon anything as large as the toad boss easily. "**BRAT DO THE SEALS I WILL LEND YOU MY CHAKRA" **Gamabunta spoke in his booming voice he could sense turmoil within his summoner. "If you say so chief" Naruto replied he tore the skin of his finger with his elongated canines and moved through the seals. Twin puffs of smoke covered the area both in the size of Gamabunta and revealed two huge toads one deep magenta colored with a large shield and sasumata, the other one was colored in aquamarine and had twin swords strapped to his back. **"BRAT THIS IS GAMAKEN AND GAMAHIRO TWO OF MY STRONGEST WARRIORS THEY WILL HELP YOU. KEN, HIRO THIS IS UZUMAKI NARUTO OUR NEWEST SUMMONER" **Gamabunta spoke introducing the two gigantic toads to Naruto, who bowed in return. Gamahiro had stayed silent but Gamaken also bowed back, "I will do what I can but I am clumsy". Raido and Genma grinned as they saw three huge toads jump off in the distance.

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An extremely long and sharp sword missed Jiraiya by inches as he tried to deliver a brutal roundhouse kick to his former teammate. Orochimaru blocked kick with ease before lashing out himself only for Jiraiya to sink down in the ground below. Orochimaru bent his body aside as he side stepped the rasengan holding Jiraiya jumping out of the ground. Jiraiya landed on the ground skidding to a halt facing the snake sage. His hands already a blur as a large dragon made of fire erupted from his lips but Orochimaru smirked and a ball of wind raced cutting the air. The two opposing jutsus collided together in an explosion shockwave cutting across the area. Jiraiya charged through the smoke and debris rasengan forming on his palm.

Orochimaru dodged the first rasengan but snake sannin didn't expect the second rasengan that formed in the last second. The attack shredded through the body throwing the man back. "It's over bastard" Jiraiya snarled as he lunged at the wounded man rasengan forming in his hands. But he had not expected to face another stab from the legendary blade kusanagi, Jiraiya sidestepped the stab and thrusted his hand forward only for a large barrier to pop out of the ground blocking the attack. "You forget old friend I am not some mortal man, I am Orochimaru the man who had reached the closest to immortality" the hissed whisper of Orochimaru reverberated from behind. Wind chakra infused shurikens flew at him but his mane of white hair surrounded him in a cocoon. The shurikens deflected off the cocoon, only for another Jiraiya to attack Orochimaru from behind with twin rasengans. Orochimaru vanished to reveal a shredded log when several snakes wrapped around the Gama sannin and threw him back dispelling the doppelganger.

Orochimaru scanned the area there was no trace of his opponent in the roof now but he was certain the fight between them was far from over. 'Snake's eye jutsu' Orochimaru whispered as his silted eyes glowed for a moment before the glow died down. Jiraiya cursed in his mind as he saw Orochimaru make the hand seal, he had heard about the technique it can provide the user a heat vision and even his transparency jutsu could not escape that. Then a plan formed in his mind, putting every bit of force he jumped high already speeding through the seals. Orochimaru saw red wave of heat descending from the heavens as he saw his once friend now nemesis in the sky release a huge fire dragon.

"You have not changed old fool did you really think you can defeat me formation of ten thousand snakes" Orochimaru yelled. The fire attack hit the living and hissing wall head on incinerating a large number before dying down finally. Jiraiya cursed as he fell towards the remainder of hungry and angry snakes. 'Here goes nothing 'he thought pushing every bit of his chakra into forming the largest rasengan he was capable of. Orochimaru did not expect this spinning blue ball of pure destruction tore through his defensive snake wall and hit him full force. Pain the only word that existed but still Orochimaru was not done he was immortal for god's sake.

Jiraiya panted the last attack had taken a lot out of him but at least Orochimaru was done for. There was no way that bastard could survive something like that. Or so he expected for as the smoke cleared Orochimaru was still there badly wounded but still alive. The snake sage looked absolutely murderous then, his jaws opened wide for a moment Jiraiya expected the damned sword to impale him but this time it was not the sword that made an appearance. Just like a snake shedding its skin Orochimaru came out of the badly damaged body shedding it behind. "Impossible…" Jiraiya muttered if his strongest attack failed to even injure the creep then there was no way he could beat him not without resorting to the final card in his sleeve. "Still behind Jiraiya, even after this long time you hope your measly attacks can kill me." Orochimaru taunted his eyes glinting in the gleam from the burning leaf. His long serpentine tongue flicked out tasting the death and carnage in the air. Jiraiya watched as Orochimaru lunged at him like a viper about to strike. Memories flashed in his mind, his time as a teen ager having fun with this man or monstrosity before the world started burning and a lone tear dropped down his cheek. Jiraiya of the sannin, a man the world calls legend but if you ask him he would say only one thing a failure.

He failed to protect the boy he loved as a son, he failed to be the god father he should have been, he failed to stop his best friend become the sick twisted monster he now was. What good did life do for him? May be death would have been better but still a single name gave him pause. Naruto, a name he created and a name that now represents the most unpredictable and yet daring shinobi leaf now has. The boy never gave up then how could he. No hand seal was needed as his chakra sprang to life forming a transparent barrier in front of him Orochimaru hissed in desperation as he was denied his kill by the barrier. His hands blurred in motion and a grinding noise came to life, the force of wind was trying to obliterate the barrier Jiraiya called up in desperation but the toad sage seemed calm as he sat there peacefully eyes closed in a meditative trance.

The barrier was cracking under the brute force of the wind jutsu and soon Orochimaru knew the man will be left vulnerable but then something happen that he didn't expect. "Summoning jutsu" Jiraiya whispered and twin puffs of smoke appeared, very small puffs so small that Orochimaru expected to laugh and out came two extremely old toads. "Ma pa I have need of you again" Jiraiya spoke not yet opening his eyes. "So I see Jiraiya boy so I see" the male toad spoke, he was old older than any other of his kind save one. "Is that your team mate Jiraiya boy?" the other toad spoke this one was female but equally old. "Yes great old sages this is indeed my old friend" Jiraiya spoke finally opening his eyes. "Boy you need to learn doing this without our help" the male toad spoke tiredly before jumping up to take his place on Jiraiya's shoulder followed by his female counter part. "Is this your best shot Jiraiya to summon two old toads if so I must say I am unimpressed" Orochimaru snarled as the barrier finally shattered under the attack. Jiraiya said nothing just glared the man he once loved like a brother. Orochimaru however paused because Jiraiya's visage had changed. His appearance now looked like a cross between an amphibian and a man. His nose was bigger with warts and a goatee but mostly his eyes were different it was the eyes of a toad. "Let's start the party shall we" he spoke once more confident in his power.

Orochimaru unleashed a barrage of wind spheres without performing the hand seals. Jiraiya dashed ahead weaving through the crowd of wind chakra spheres without breaking his impressive speed. Orochimaru ended the attack just in time to avoid the kick Jiraiya sent at him. The two sannins were soon engaged in a hand to hand fight, Jiraiya knew Orochimaru was still better in long range attacks and he refused give him the chance to escape. Orochimaru was furious despite looking like a man toad Jiraiya's speed now vastly surpassed him and so did his strength. Only his masterful healing abilities kept him in his feet. "Wind style: great breakthrough" Orochimaru snarled in anger using the slight distance gained from the momentum of the punch Jiraiya just landed on his chest. Chakra fueled wind hit Jiraiya hard throwing him back. But the toad sage efficiently flipped in the mid air landing on his four limbs his hands changing to a flipper. He grinned at furious looking Orochimaru finally since the battle began; he now had the upper hand. "Sage art: wild lion's mane" Jiraiya whispered before throwing his chakra elongated hair at the traitor. The hair shaped just like a lion's jaw bound around Orochimaru with incredible speed not giving the latter a chance to counter. With a tug Orochimaru was sent flying just as Jiraiya himself jumped forming another rasengan in his hand but due to sage chakra the rasengan was far larger than any of the previous ones. Jiraiya felt a slight twinge of sorrow as his former teammate got shredded by the sheer destructive power of the blue sphere.

"At last this is over" he sighed but was shocked when the old toad sage shook his negatively. "I have to disappoint you there boy, I believe your team mate has still a lot of life force left." The pa toad spoke but his frown and the voice quickly alerted Jiraiya that there was more bad news to come. "And he is not fully human" the toad finished slightly disgusted by what he felt. "What do you mean pa?" Jiraiya asked but it was not the pa toad that answered him the tremors on the ground was answer enough.

Jumping back to gain distance the toad sage watched in disgust mixed with horror as a huge white snake towered over him a snake with eight heads and a scaly body. The snake opened its jaw wide and a slimy but smirking Orochimaru made his appearance. "Ku ku Jiraiya I never expected you to force me to reveal my true form I must say I am impressed. But you see you are not the only one of us to have learn senjutsu and while unlike you I am hindered by the frailty of the host body I will be invincible once I claim your precious Uchiha scion and maybe just maybe I will pay a visit to your god son as well" Orochimaru cackled madly. Jiraiya tensed the body of this eight tailed and eight headed snake was larger than even Manda and that alone made it near impossible to defeat.

Orochimaru flickered his tongue while the seven heads hissed around him they could sense pear the panic in the village and it excited them. "Ma, pa we have to take this fight away from here can you keep him busy till I reach a safe area" Jiriaya whispered as he jumped to dodge the surprise strike form the fabled eight headed snake. Flying through the hand seals Jiraiya exhaled a huge dragon made of fire, the power of nature chakra turning the fire white hot. The fire dragon crashed headlong in to the monstrous beast that Orochimaru now had become.

The heat seared the flesh of the beast but it healed almost instantly. "Open your eyes fool I am no longer a mere snake I am the ultimate being the true dragon god." Orochimaru yelled his madness gleaming in his eyes. "And now I announce the death of your village."

Jiraiya dodged another stab from the kusanagi it was gaining riskier but he needed to get Orochimaru farther. Thankfully the two toad sages were providing support with continuous attacks. So far Jiraiya knew three things about this new form, firstly Orochimaru retained his ability to use jutsu second the man was lost to the baser instincts and finally he healed too damn fast. Jiraiya smiled in relief as he saw the targeted area looming nearer. A final burst of speed and he reached there the west border of leaf village. The only non populated area in the entire village this was the only place where Jiraiya could even hope to hold the monster off.

"even a decade ago you could not stop me Jiraiya and how do you hope to do so now after I have far outclassed humans" Orochimaru's taunting voice only stirred the regret Jiraiya had kept within himself if only he had given up on his friend the countless deaths could have been avoided. "What done is done Jiraiya boy it's time to show the upstart what mount myobazaku's sages can do"

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: SEEMED LIKE A FINE PLACE TO STOP SORRY FOR THE LONG GAP BUT MY SEMESTER EXAM WAS GOING ON AND I WAS DOWN WITH A BAD BOUT OF FLU. ANYWAY THANKS GUYS FOR REVIEWING YOU GUYS MADE MY DAY AND TO LINK I DIDN'T UNDERESTIMATE JIRAIYA THE COMING CHAPTERS WILL ATTEST TO THAT. AND AS NONE OF YOU WANTED A JOUNIN SENSEI TO DIE I THINK THEY WILL ALL LIVE


	18. Chapter 18

**_Protector's pride_**

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile._

Previously: the battle for Konoha's survival rages on Hiruzen is facing the reanimated corpse of nidaime while Hashriama Senju is brought back from death to wage havoc on the Konoha shinobi. Gaara has been defeated by Naruto while Orochimaru is fighting against Jiraiya.

**_Will of the Fire-into the fire part 2_**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was feeling the every year of his age weigh down his bones as he stood leaning on the adamantium bo-staff that had been his battle partner of many decades. In actuality the staff was much more than an ordinary weapon this is the henged form of Enma the monkey king but still even with the aid of his partner Hiruzen was pressed back. Nidaime hokage Tobirama Senju was the first user of space time ninjutsu making him faster than any other mortal until Minato was born despite of all the knowledge Hiruzen acquired over the years this particular branch remained ever elusive to him. He had made sure that his predecessor stay within the arena as large rock structures bound the arena.

He was bleeding in several places but still his will was strong and Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know how to accept defeat. A small shift in wind pressure was the warning he had as once the reanimated nidaime lunged at him but only to be diverted away by the hit from the Enma in staff form. Hiruzen started rotating the staff in his hand slowly and slowly adding chakra to strengthen the rod further, his experienced eyes fixed on the nidaime who was on the move again. Enma clashed again and again with the sword nidaime yielded neither gaining any ground. Suddenly Tobirama vanished from the place as the over head hit from Hiruzen hit the place his sensei was moments ago. Immense pain shot through his body as another cut deeper than the rest appeared near his abdomen. Hiruzen gritted his teeth in frustration against Tobirama using elemental ninjutsu were a waste and even melee was not working. 'that leaves me with only one choice I wish I could take Orochimaru down as well but I don't think sensei will give me enough time for that' he thought as once more he fended off attacks form Tobirama. He readied himself as Tobirama attacked once more a stabbing attack from the katana a seal less and perfectly timed replacement technique took Hiruzen far enough to give the time and space he needed.

"Shadow clone jutsu" the sandaime hokage of leaf whispered summoning two clones, "stall sensei long enough for me to complete the attack". The two clones nodded and without a word engaged the second fire shadow in another deadly clash of steel. Fire chakra took the form of a dragon's jaw as a clone exhaled it towards Tobirama only to be blocked by the wall of water the greatest water user of history summoned without a seal. Only to dive aside as a dragon made of rock flew through the smoke. Hiruzen knew his clones wouldn't last long thankfully in this mode his sensei was considerably weaker specially the space time ninjutsu needed a long period of cool down but still he hoped to make the jutsu work in time. He saw as his faithful summon blocked the undead, even the second hokage not match for the taijutsu prowess and the fierceness of the monkey king and finally Sarutobi Hiruzen whispered his last words, "dead demon reaper seal activate".

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Ibiki frowned as Inoichi gave him the bad news hokage and his combatant was now separated from them. "So we have to deal with the shodaime by ourselves troublesome" Shikaku said trying hard to find a way to do that. "The only bloodline that can hold a chance against shodaime's mokuton is sharingan that means Kakashi will be the one directly fighting him, Guy and Hiashi I want you two to provide assistance" he laid out the brief plan of attack against an enemy far stronger than any of them. "Wait a minute Shikaku, Ibiki what about Tenzo he has mokuton as well he can provide us the support against shodaime" Kakashi reasoned while Shikaku looked troubled, "no if this is truly Hashriama Senju then any other mokuton user will only be hindrance the only way should be to seal the body somehow."

"Shikaku is right as always Kakashi using operative Tenzo here will not solve anything." Ibiki spoke finally he knew very well this fight may end up killing all three of the shinobi they were sending to fight against shodaime. "Then let's wait no longer gather the sealing team" Kakashi spoke before he jumped down before the cloaked figure standing still for such a long time. 'I truly hope this is another clone like Tenzo' Kakashi thought as he revealed his sharingan, Guy and Hiashi landing beside him. "Shall we begin my eternal rival" Guy spoke his normal boisterous nature slightly toned down. Kakashi nodded as he moved through the hand seals while his two comrades shot forward.

Hiashi had his byaakugan active trying to judge where the next attack would come from. Guy was the one to attack first, empowered by the gate of limit his punch hit the shodaime from point blank. The punch totally shredded the robes to reveal the red armor wearing corpse of Hashriama Senju, the punch was strong enough to penetrate the body but the expression on the shodaime's face never changed. Guy was shocked and his negligence resulted in receiving a violent kick from the shodaime hokage. Flipping back in the midair he rushed again but this time Hashriama rushed in as well. The two briefly engaged in a taijutsu duel only for Hiashi to intervene, "gentle fist empty palm" he whispered as superfast wind knocked back the founder of Konoha only for him to begin his own sequence of seals. "Lightning style: beast running technique" Kakashi called out as wolf made of pure lightning chakra slammed in the shodaime. The lightning attack shred through the body but the seals went on uninterrupted. "Kakashi the body doesn't feel pain" Hiashi yelled as Hashriama slammed his hands on the ground. The three Konoha jounin jumped back wooden spikes emerged from the ground before merging together forming several samurai like figures.

"Leave them to me" guy shouted as he blazed in his incredible strength breaking through the first wooden soldier easily. Kakashi nodded before he rushed in as well ducking under the swipe of a wooden sword the son of white fang cut the sword yielding hand with a lightning cutter only to jump back when some more wood grow to make the hand. Beside him Guy also ran into the same problem no matter how much damage he did to the wooden soldiers he simply recovered. Hiashi sidestepped the first sword swipe from his own adversary his byaakugan picking up the main chakra source in the statue and with an accurate palm strike the chakra centre was destroyed. "Kakashi aim for their chakra centre and Guy stop the jutsu" Hiashi yelled as he used repeated empty palm attack to destroy some more statues. Kakashi's sharingan found the chakra centre with little difficulty, from there his raikiri cut through the remaining statues like nothing.

While Guy was in some serious trouble as even his advanced fifth gate enhanced taijutsu failed to penetrate Hashriama's defense. Every single punch and kick was matched with equal ferocity; "Guy duck" Kakashi's voice alerted him as raikiri flew just above his head to penetrate the shodaime. But Kakashi got no chance to push further as more trees erupted from the ground trying to crush him forcing him to retreat. "The corpse heals to damn fast for us to be effective" he panted slightly before also opening the first gate in this fight Kakashi could not afford to pull back any punches. Suddenly like a blaze shodaime came to offense only with his sharingan Kakashi managed to parry the sword slash even then he was pushed back.

"Morning peacock" Guy yelled punching forward with speed beyond naked eye raining fireballs against the god of shinobi. Guy had already activated the sixth gate his whole body was tearing itself apart as he maintained the power longer. But fireballs never reached their target as one hand seal and part of ground rose to block the attack the wall crumbled against the onslaught but by then Hashriama was midway of his swing of the katana aiming to cut Guy in half. "Eight trigrams: empty wall palm" Hiashi yelled as he released an extremely powerful attack throwing shodaime back. "Kakashi this is getting nowhere we have to fall back" Guy yelled at Kakashi who once more charged at shodaime. This time trees started growing out of ground at haphazard places with much faster speed "wood release: secret technique naivety of a world of trees".

Kakashi focused harder than ever cutting through any vine or wooden branch blocking his path while dodging the larger trees growing in an incredible display of his skills before slamming his raikiri through the body destroying the body of shodaime finally but even then the high kick through him back. Flipping in the air to position Kakashi landed on the tree trunk that shodaime just created.

"We are no match for his attacks but at least now he would take some time to repair." Kakashi spoke "Shikaku connect your shadow to me as soon as I reach near him use shadow bind this is the only way" he yelled aloud. Shikaku had figured it out far ago but he had figured something else as well the way shodaime fought it seemed like there was a delay between the command and the execution a slight delay but a delay so if the jounins were to attack at once the required window of time may be found. "Kakashi, Guy Hiashi listen carefully all of you need to attack at once weakening him enough for me to bind him, Kakashi and Guy you will go first Hiashi block as much of his chakra as you can at the last".

A small tendril of black chakra sped along the ground before attaching with Hiashi. A look of determination passed on the face of all three elite of Konoha ninja. Kakashi and Guy sped along both speed enhanced by the power of celestial gates, "Kakashi cover me" Guy whispered before he pumped chakra throughout his body opening the seventh gate. "Wood release: wood dragon technique" Hashriama announced in a cool monotone as a large wooden dragon issued out of his palm. Kakashi's eyes widened as he witnessed the sheer size of the technique even his years of practice with Tenzo didn't prepare him for the attack and a flick of the tail sent him flying back. Although he managed to land perfectly Kakashi felt the pain trying to escape through his mouth in the form of a scream. His force of will stifled the scream but still a small whimper escaped. The wooden dragon was speeding towards him still and Kakashi knew he was in no position to dodge the attack. But Kakashi didn't need to as Guy intercepted the wooden dragon with his strongest attack the day-time tiger. A taijutsu move so powerful that it seemed like an extremely powerful ninjutsu move a tiger formed purely of his force of punch. The tiger tore through the wooden dragon while Guy sent a round house kick at Hashriama only for his leg to be blocked in midair by shodaime's iron grip.

Hashriama Senju was the epitome of shinobi arts his mastery of all the branches of shinobi skills made him the only one who could stand against the power of Uchiha Madara. Even after his reanimation although cut off from his majority of abilities, Hashriama possessed enough strength to hold off Konoha's three elite jounins with ease but this time he was bereft of the one thing that made him so dangerous his intellect. For that reason he was not ready when a pebble at his feet changed in to Kakashi raikiri already active. The lightning attack cut his hands from the shoulder, Kakashi knew they will regenerate but he hoped not in time. Hiashi pressed on the opening created by Kakashi, his hands blurred as eight trigrams 64 palms became active. Finger jabs in the speed blind to the naked eye hit the impure world resurrected shodaime constantly blocking his chakra pathways dead or not no one could fight in their full power when they would have to force open the chakra pathway first.

"Shadow bind successful" Shikaku intoned his brow furrowed as he struggled against the power of an undead first. "Inoichi your turn now" he spoke through the gritted teeth sweat beading on his forehead. Inoichi was not the one to miss a chance with the confirmation to go ahead he quickly blurred through the seals before calling out, "sensory disruptor jutsu", a technique that blocks the sensory portions of the brain and thus making the opponent unable to counter. "Sealing squad move in" Ibiki barked and three shinobi strode forward laying down the scrolls while moving through the seals, "hidden leaf style sealing jutsu: impenetrable dome". Chakra formed a triangle shape of dark blue color obscuring the view of the reanimated corpse, "this barrier will not hold indefinitely we shall have to take it to the base to apply stronger seal" the leader of the sealing team spoke. A tall man with dark blue hair and a strange air of indifference around him, this man always made Ibiki on the edge he never could pinpoint it but still he gave a nod as they sealed the dome in a chained jar with seals.

Kakashi gingerly touched his ribs the fight had drained him there was no way he could use sharingan for the rest of the day. "How are you two?" he asked Guy and Hiashi, he was not much bothered about Hiashi the man was mostly unhurt but he was worried about Guy. "The power of youth protected me" Guy exclaimed loudly. Kakashi grinned underneath his mask there was very few things that could keep his friend down. "I am fine nothing that our healers cannot sort out" Hiashi's tone was stoic as ever.

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Jiraiya jumped on one of the extended heads of the monstrosity that his former team mate had transformed into. Orochimaru snarled at him his eyes glinting with hate and blood lust. Without a moment's pause he spit out repeated barrages of the condensed wind. Jiraiya was waiting for it the ten minutes he faced against the eight headed snake he had scored more hits than ever on his teammate. True the damn thing healed fast but finally the body was showing some signs of injury while Jiraiya himself had at least four broken ribs and he didn't even want to think of the chakra exhaustion that will affect him once the sage mode ran out.

In his attempt to replicate a tailed beast Orochimaru created this form but there was something he had forgotten. Unlike the tailed beast's his still was body of flesh and Jiraiya took full advantage of the fact, "ma pa are you two ready" he whispered. "Ready when you are kid" the gruff voice of Shima the toad matriarch hid her affection but Jiraiya knew her too well to be fooled by the behavior.

The attack he planned was capable of reducing an entire village to ashes the strongest fire based attack that was known to him. He pulled a deep breath in chakra pooling in his stomach in the form of oil and finally with a mighty heave he ejected it, at the same time from his shoulders the two toad sages released fire stream and wind stream. Separately the elemental attacks were no stronger than a b ranked jutsu something that would be like swatting a dragon with a paper bat for Orochimaru. But together the three attacks formed sage art goemeon and a tsunami of fire descended upon Orochimaru.

As he saw his own attacks fuel the flaming death Jiraiya hurled at him for the first time Orochimaru felt fear grab him. His hands blurred as he called up the strongest defense he could muster, "summoning triple rashomon". the jutsu if executed perfectly held enough power to stop a tailed beast bomb but sadly for Orochimaru the fire wave was upon him even before the gates could perfectly form the deadly wave hit him scorching away his flesh and skin.

Jiraiya watched impassively his mind a turmoil of emotions as the man he once called brother burned in front of his eyes by his own attack, there was no sense of completion no accomplishment. He detested the creature his brother figure had become still somewhere deep within Jiraiya cared for him. "Now I set you free" he whispered as the great husk of the serpent was scorched down leaving only a burning carcass.

However what he didn't notice was the small white cobra watching him from behind barely noticeable but its yellow silted eyes glinted with hatred and malice.

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It was a scene of complete slaughter that Tsunade witnessed her long abandoned home once more, blood and gore splattered on the branches every where the scent of rotting flesh overwhelming the sensory organs. She was prepared for death but not in this magnitude, the battle for leaf was over and apparently leaf had won but she couldn't help but wonder at what cost.

Jiraiya sat still beside the limp body of sensei in the span of less than twelve hours he lost both his sensei and his former teammate. He wanted to blame himself but his rational side said there was nothing he could do but still in the end he could console himself by the knowledge he had avenged his sensei. "Hokage sama the council has called upon a meeting" a small and soft voice spoke from behind breaking him out of his funk. "Yes I know I will be there soon enough" he replied before rising from his chair leaving behind the body of former hokage. 'Rest in peace old man I will shoulder your burdens from now on' he whispered for a moment he could imagine a small fond smile on the lips of the sandaime hokage.

As he came out of the room he saw another person that wrenched his heart Naruto sat in front of the door looking lost. Jiraiya couldn't even hope to understand what the boy must be feeling now he had heard enough of the boy's history from the late hokage to know what a horrible life the child had led. 'No what a horrible life I forced him to live' he corrected in his mind sitting down beside the blonde boy he wrapped the boy in a warm hug. This simple act of affection was all that was needed to break the dam. "I failed again sensei even after all the training one of my precious persons die again, is there no end?" the boy's plea was heart touching but Jiraiya was out of answers what answer do you give when you have no answer yourself.

"I don't know kid but I know this if I give up then we will carry on if not me then who? If you had not done what you did much more people would have died. I wish for peace and till my dying breath I shall strive to find it" Jiraiya himself had forgotten when he had stopped talking to his student and began talking to himself but his words were successful in washing away the doubts Naruto felt. "Thank you sensei" he mumbled not sure if Jiraiya even heard it or not but at the moment it didn't matter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: HI GUYS I KNOW ITS SHORTER THAN MOST BUT IT REALLY SEEMED LIKE A GOOD PLACE TO STOP THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE A LOT OF SOUL SEARCHING ANY ADVICE OR SUGGESTION WILL BE WELCOME AND THE DEATHS WILL BE REVEALED IN NEXT CHAPTER


	19. Chapter 19

_Protector's pride_

_SUMMARY: Naruto Uzumaki fought to save his precious people from harm. But he took things seriously very late. This is what happens when the death of one of his precious persons instigate the change in him earlier. This will be an au but will follow cannon pretty closely._

_I don't own the series. This story may have some similarities with other stories with same theme but occurrence of that is purely coincidental. Thanks to all and everyone who have reviewed I really like the support makes me worthwhile. Although expected a bit more for the last chapter but well you can't have it all._

Previously: the battle has ended now Konoha mourns her losses while Tsunade returns

**After the fire**

As she walked along the streets of her home she could not help but blame herself. Although irrational but still she couldn't help thinking with her special techniques how many of these fallen shinobis could have been saved. The stench of blood nearly threatened to drive her over the edge, her paralytic fear trying to creep in but today she held firm. Steadily she made her way to the hospital with her apprentice Shizune on tow, too long had she been away and finally Jiraiya's letter reminded her of her duties. As she entered the hospital she could feel the warm feeling of being at home, at long last the princess of healing has returned.

It was a chunin posted before the emergency ward who first spotted Tsunade coming and from there word spread around like wild fire. And within two minutes Tsunade sat before the man who was currently the head of the hospital. Akio Higurashi was a civilian born, only by his hard labor he managed to reach a level where he could become the best doctor in the village. In his youth he had been one of the first students of the slug sage and even after all these years his respect for the legendary medic had not diminished a bit. "Lady Tsunade I wish could tell you how happy I am to see you; I always knew you would return. When you were gone I tried my best but I am ashamed to tell you it was never same." He spoke his happiness was visible to all and as Tsunade watched over the neat and clean cubicle the man used for his office the rows filled with files and folders were all the proof she needed. Gently gripping the shoulder of the man she whispered, "You did good old friend and now I am back."

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As she opened her eyes the first feeling was of pain, it seemed like her entire body was in flames. "AHH" a scream let out of her mouth as she tried to sit up only to fall down, her entire body was too weak to move. Ino gritted her teeth as the pain surged through her body once more everything was hazy. The door of her hospital room opened just then and a doctor and her father rushed in. "Thank god you are awake my child" Inoichi's happiness was palpable he had almost given up hope and now he had never been happier in his whole life. "How long was I out dad" Ino asked ignoring the pain and the doctor checking her vital signs. It was not Inoichi who answered instead the doctor volunteered, "About a month miss Yamanka". The answer was enough shock the living daylights out of her, really how much damage her body sustained to leave her comatose for such a long time. "Dad what happened in the exam what happened to Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun?" Ino asked trying desperately to steer her mind away from the shocking revelation about her body condition. Inoichi knew what his daughter was trying to do and he felt proud of the strength she was displaying. "Well maybe I should sit you need a lot of things to catch up with my princess" his cheerful voice brought a small smile on Ino's lips. It seemed so long that she last chatted with her father.

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Jiraiya sat in the hokage's seat facing the fully packed council room, some faces were happy other not so but as an orphan Jiraiya had learned long ago that you cannot make everyone happy. His steely glare fixed on the man in hidden sand's uniform standing in front of the council with his head held high, he had to admit the man had balls but how far would they support him that was the question. "Sand jounin you come here with deputation from your village, the village that betrayed the trust hidden leaf had placed in them. Tell me why I should trust you any more" Jiraiya's voice was calm but his words carried the terror in them, he hated traitors above all others. The man to his credit didn't stumble in his words, "please godaime-sama you need to understand it was not only leaf who has been betrayed, Orochimaru of the sannin betrayed us as well, our army rode out believing it to be the command of the kazekage. Only to discover that we had been lied to our leader dead by the hands of the traitor, we hold no allegiance for that man." This time the opposition was not from the hokage instead from the clan heads, the inuzuka clan had been in the front line and had suffered devastating losses. Tsume lost her brother and her daughter was lying in the hospital; she had no patience to hear the very reason for their pain trying to justify itself. "It doesn't matter who led you but your kazekage did plan to invade Konoha and for that act of treachery alone we should attack the village hidden in sands" she snarled rage and hatred dripping of her tone like the venom of a king cobra.

"But we had no other choice; our village is dying our daimio is cutting off the fund and Konoha offer lower rate for our customers. What else could we do?" the man pleaded, he knew with every passing second he missed his chance to make the hidden leaf see reason. "You could have come to us in peace" Jiraiya spoke "still you didn't but we don't hang up in the past. Tell me what hidden sand offers us in exchange of our friend ship once more". "We offer you a lump sum of two million ryo in exchange of the transgression our country made against you. We promise never to bear arms against Konoha to come to your aid whenever called for and remove any tax imposed upon your traders." The man read out loud from the scroll he was carrying hoping that the compromise would be enough to sate the victor. Jiraiya pondered for a moment, the offer they were giving was alluring that was without any doubt but still a part of him called for vengeance. He forcefully crushed that part before addressing the council once more, "and what does Konoha think about this offer?"

Danzo sat in the shadows unmoving like stone but his lone eye never drifting of the sand jounin acting as an emissary. He was trying hard to look in to the minds of one who sent him here, for the hidden sands council to send only one man meant they are surely expecting leaf to disagree with their proposal which means they will gladly ally themselves with stronger countries like Hidden cloud or hidden rock and he knew as weakened as leaf was such an alliance would crush them. He backed the invasion with the sole target to remove Hiruzen from the chair but he had not counted on that man to have already select Jiraiya as his heir. Danzo was weary of the man it was not that Jiraiya was exceptionally strong as a fighter no it was his conviction and iron will that made the man a threat. However for now he would lie low and try to lure the jinchuriki to his side and if possible the last Uchiha as well, his spies have report great potential from that boy and more importantly deep hatred for his brother something that could be put to very good use. So when hokage asked for the opinion of the council Danzo had been the first to say yes, for now he could use the village hidden in the sands as a shield.

Tsume led the number of clan heads against the alliance, followed by her lead Hiashi Hyuuga and Aburame clan also rejected the alliance. The Yamanka clan as well as Naara and Akimichi clan followed Danzo's suit while Asuma now the head of Sarutobi clan remained silent. Asuma was torn in between his will to let the fight end and his anger for loosing so many of his family members in one single fight the number of his clan members decreased from over four hundred to fifty strong but still he refused to let anger sway him rather allowed fate to guide him. With the Yuuki clan head following his trend the result was four in favor to three in against while the hokage was yet to vote. Jiraiya felt the reasons behind every single of the opinions; he personally would wait a long time before he himself would ever trust hidden sand but still launching another attack that would result only in death of more men was not something he could bring himself to do. Still if he though carefully the reason that hidden sand attacked was because they were suffocating slowly and giving a monetary compensation would allow them to breed hate. "Take back word to your council that leaf agrees but the lump sum is not required instead we ask for one of your puppeteer division for Konoha's rank." He spoke finally the decision had been passed and sand emissary departed now they had to discuss the faucets of leaf's recovery.

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Naruto sat in the team seven's official training ground meditating or trying to meditate at the very least. He was the only one among the four of them not confined to hospital but perhaps even that would have been better. As once more memories assaulted him the times spent with man he called Grandfather, the man who saved him from himself all those times and words still fresh in his mind came to haunt him as he sat motionless trying to find inner calm. He was trying and failing to suppress the tears when a small voice interrupted him from behind.

To the people of hidden leaf Konohamaru had been simply the honored grandson, the grandson of the famous sandaime hokage and he hated it. Like every other boy Konohamaru also wanted to be recognized by his family by the people of leaf and the first one to do so was Naruto Uzumaki. Since then the little boy had become almost a family for the jinchuriki and both of them savored the moments they spent together although the moments were becoming more and more infrequent. That's why when Naruto saw his little brother figure standing behind him crying he felt his heart shatter once more again and again he was failing to save those who mattered most even with power at his disposal he was too weak to reach out and grab it. But before he could dwell on that for long Konohamaru had wrapped his arms around his torso and broke down once more. Naruto had never felt more helpless before how do you console a boy of seven years for losing his family member when you are an inch away from joining him in tears and yet he held on keeping away the tears with sheer stubbornness holding the child until the tears receded in to dry sobs. "You know Konohamaru I also want to cry but I can't for I know gramps would never want it all that I can do is move forward" he whispered trying to convince him much more than he was trying to convince the young boy.

Time flew past still Naruto sat there just alone away from the healing village and with most of his friends injured he had almost no intention of facing the crowd today. Instead he concentrated on communicating with the bane of his existence for hours he had been trying and failing as for some strange reason the nine tailed fox refused to let him enter. Frustration mounting he pumped his chakra and finally he felt no more barrier and the familiar sewer cum prison came in view. The body of the fox was hidden behind shadows while his glowing red eyes fixed on him with an unmoving stare. "Hey fur ball" Naruto greeted half heartedly he wanted to come down here but right now his mind felt jumbled up. Long canines gleamed in the dying light as the mighty bane of the shinobi nations bared its fangs, "it had been long" it commented loud voice echoing round. "Kyuubi, I have some questions" the statement found only a booming laugh "**AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I CARE**". "Don't mess with me today I am not in the mood" Naruto spoke trying hard to rein in his temper for some strange reason he was feeling much angrier down here. "**DON'T MISTAKE ME FOR SOMEONE WHO IS SCARED YOU PUNY SACK OF FLESH" Kyuubi's** rage was almost palpable but to his credit Naruto stood firm. "I am not afraid of you" he stated trying to rein in his temper. 'I KNOW THAT BRAT AND THAT'S WHY YOU ARE STILL GIVEN A CHANCE TO MASTER MY POWER' the thoughts went unspoken but finally the great beast came to light, the demon fox fixed his eyes on the boy. "Why were you first sealed in to a human?" Naruto spoke finally knowing that he had the beast's attention. "**HOW DOES THAT CONCERN YOU"** the booming voice was surprisingly free of all the hostility. "I need to know how my kind came to be. Why we are hated like this?" Naruto asked he was not himself sure how the answer will shape his viewpoint but he had to give it a go, he had to know.

"**I WAS NOT SEALED IN TO A HUMAN AT FIRST FOR EVEN BEING THE STRONGEST OF THEM ALL I COULD BE MANIPULATED LIKE THE WAY ALL OF YOU DIRTY FLESH BAGS ARE MANIPULATED BY YOUR VILLAGES. THE MAN YOU CALL THE FIRST HOKAGE SEALED ME IN HIS WIFE TO MAKE SURE I COULDNOT BE USED AGAINST LEAF. WHAT A JOKE?" ** Naruto could not believe his ears if Kyuubi could be manipulated then that meant everything he perceived about the world was in shambles. "What power could do something like that" for the first time in the day a small trace of fear could be felt in his voice. "**FIND IT OUT YOUR SELF BRAT BUT BEFORE THAT ONE LAST WORD UNLESS YOU GROW STRONGER YOUR PROMISE WILL NEVER COME TO BE YOUR STRENGTH DETERMINES HOW MUCH OF MINE YOU CAN EVEN HOPE CONTROL ELSE YOU DRAW TOO MUCH AND YOU DIE TAKING ME WITH YOU."**

Naruto opened his eyes his thoughts filled with many question and renewed need to gain strength. He had faced the monstrous powers of s-ranked shinobis before and he knew he was no match for that. For any other normal genin there would not have been required to do so but Naruto had a hunch he would be facing harder troubles in the coming time.

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A new day brought no satisfaction to Jiraiya as he peered on the endless paper works. The whole night he had been into one after other meetings, in the single day he had aged almost a year. Still he was happy for after so many years Tsunade was back, although he believed that she would never respond in kind but even a glimpse of her face was enough to brighten his day. Immersed in his thought he had failed to sense the familiar presence of his student. "Hey pervy sage I need to train" finally the loud shout from Naruto broke him of his trance. "Damn you brat I already told you not to call me that" ignoring the snickering from his anbu guards Jiraiya glared at the blonde he could see a masterful façade hiding the grief and once more he admired the resilience of the young boy. Once more donning his serious façade Jiraiya looked at the boy signaling him to continue, "I am not strong enough sensei I just learnt today that even someone like Kyuubi can be manipulated and I have grown enough to know that I will be targeted always for my burden and I have to gain strength. I must be strong enough to prevent my precious persons being harmed anymore" the note of desperation of in Naruto's tone didn't miss Jiraiya's attention. "Follow me then" he said before jumping out of the window with his apprentice on his tail.

As the duo approached the ground where Naruto learned the summoning jutsu Jiraiya stopped allowing the blonde to finally catch up. "Watch closely I will show this only once" Jiraiya spoke as he held out his palm and a ball of chakra started swirling there, before he slammed the attack on the tree trunk beside him reducing it to dust. He smirked at the boy looking extremely impressed, "ready to give it a go brat". Naruto could not even speak only nodding silently. "Pop this balloon" Jiraiya spoke before he tossed a normal balloon to blonde boy. Ignoring the quizzical look on the boy's face he continued with the instruction, "Rotate the water in the balloon with your chakra". Naruto nodded not really asking the question on top of his tongues rather deciding to trust the old pervert. Soon he was lost in his efforts the chakra was spinning the water inside the balloon and balloon expanded forward like a rod before it exploded throwing him back. A frown marred his face 'that didn't go as expected, maybe I put too much chakra in there' he thought before picking up another balloon from the Jiraiya had knowingly placed beside him. "Don't worry brat it's going to take some time being the fourth's own technique and all that" a grinning Jiraiya shouted from his vantage point. While a shadow clone of the said man was making his way to the hospital after all tomorrow he was going to be officially sworn in as a hokage and he wanted Tsunade to be by his side.

"Hokage-Sama may I have a minute" Inoichi's voice stopped Jiraiya in his tracks turning around to face the Yamanka patriarch he sent a quizzical glance at him. "As it turns out my daughter somehow during the coma has managed to learn about the Sand Jinchuriki and is questioning about them. I know that sandaime's law prevents information about jinchuriki's being shared but I was wondering if there was a way around the law." Inoichi spoke his head bowed low not daring to see how the new hokage would react to this. Jiraiya was stunned the girl learned the truth of a jinchuriki after being affected by him, he was certain Tsunade must want to take a look at this but even more importantly what to do about the current predicament. 'On one hand there is a chance she will react negatively if the information is shared but on the other hand she is the brat's teammate and as such she might be in danger' Jiraiya pondered in his mind the pros and the cons were evenly balanced deciding to go with his gut feeling he said finally, "you can say but as long as you don't say anything about Naruto. I want the boy to tell his friends when he is ready". Inoichi nodded seeing the reason behind such a decision, "thank you hokage-sama that will be all." The Yamanka patriarch was confused as well for a small number of cases documented by their clan about the effect of body mind replacement technique used on the tailed beast hosts said the user never survived the beast tore apart the mind but apparently this time something else happened.

As the sun sat Naruto dropped down he had taken much more damage he had hoped from this training. The balloon would not just pop the way it was supposed to he knew he was making some mistake but he couldn't figure out what the mistake was. 'Well better go grab some dinner before visiting Ino-chan for a while' he thought and at the same time he realized caught up with his training and all he had not even visited the other members of his team. Wincing slightly at his neglect the boy sped along the trees leaving behind a pretty well destroyed training field. The trip to the Ichiraku ramen had been swift and Naruto did a double take to see the white spiky hair of his new teacher already there. "Hello Naruto kun your usual I suppose" the cheery owner of the ramen stall asked his favorite customer getting a nod in return. Ayame hugged the blonde boy as he came closer, "how have you been Naruto-Kun you even reduced coming here?" she asked with concern about the boy specially the hell the boy was going through lately she was worried about him. Brushing off the concern Naruto smiled his trademark grin, "I am absolutely fine Ayame nee-chan just been busy training with pervy sage here" he said pointing to the man sitting beside him. "Jiraiya sama you are teaching the brat then" Teuchi spoke as he carried four bowls of ramen to the table setting one in front of the still silent Jiraiya, "how much?" finally breaking the silence the new hokage of the leaf spoke only for the shop owner to laugh. "It's on the house Jiraiya-sama". The rest of the meal was spent in a companionable silence before Naruto finished his tenth bowl and with a hearty grin stood up, "you really are the best old man that hit the place". "Naruto I need to talk to you" Jiraiya interrupted the boy before he left the area. "Sure sensei" Naruto was sure this was serious else Jiraiya never used that tone. The two toad summoners walked along the silent road, "what's bothering you old man" Naruto spoke breaking the silence that stretched between them. "Your teammate is out of coma." Jiraiya spoke. Naruto froze in his tracks, "Ino is awake?" he asked not daring to trust his fortune for the entire month he had been blaming himself for not intervening before, fearing that he had lost the one true friend he had gained. The sage nodded once more while the blonde Uzumaki broke into a mini celebration. "You should think of telling her of your secret" Jiraiya's next words froze Naruto. He knew he trusted his team but still the burden he shared was something he never wanted to share with anyone.

"Why?" he replied with a single word. "There are things you should know brat, firstly when you openly used the power of Kyuubi against Gaara to save her don't you think others might have noticed and finally have you never wanted to know why Roshi was here instead of his own village" Jiraiya knew he had to be patient but a sense of warning was ruining his patience. Naruto didn't utter a single word the truth was he had wondered about the other jinchuriki's presence but never comprehended it as important. "There is a certain group that is hunting people like you, a group made of solely the most dangerous nuke ninja available in the world" Jiraiya knew his sensei didn't want Naruto to know about the presence of akatsuki but the scenario was no longer what it was and the boy needed to understand the situation he was in. a cold chill of fear went through Naruto's spine a group solely hunting jinchuriki. "As your teammate they will be facing the dangers whether you want it or not but I for one feel they should know the truth" Jiraiya continued speaking knowing full well the rebuttal Naruto would have used, "it doesn't matter now if you want to stay away from them or not the only way is to you become stronger than the ones that will oppose you and for that you will need your friends. There is only so much a lone shinobi can do think on it will you."

That night Naruto didn't sleep; for hours he sat on the tree branch directly opposite of Ino's room watching her sleep, in his heart he knew the words Jiraiya spoke was true if Roshi was scared of them then he would stand no chance. 'I will have to tell them' he promised himself ignoring the deep echo of laughter coming from the great beast sealed within him. Sometimes after the midnight he saw Ino stirring in his sleep; from reading her lips he could see her taking his name. "They depend on me and I will not let their trust fade" he whispered aloud not noticing the silent figure of Kakashi Hatake behind him.

Author's note: seemed like a good place to stop any way I hope you guys like this chapter and truly I expected a bit more reviews for the last chapter. Anyway I wanted to know if my battle scenes were good enough if not then how I should improve.


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